cutting the head off may work for getting the cradle off.. but what then?
How would you manage to loosen them without the head of the bolt?

Your best bet is to still try and break them loose

Try to tighten them a little.. bang them around also
i'm betting the nuts break free before the bolts do.. but cutting the head off wouldn't be a good idea IMO

Use craftsman tools.. atleast when they break you can replace'em for free

Ive been using the craftsmen tools but i figured if i could get to more of the folt id be able to turn it with some vice grips. These are the last thing besides the one coolant line behind the motor from me dropping it and im getting really impatient lol. I may try getting one of those gator grip things to but i already bought a stripped bolt set but that ate up the bolt too. Should i try to put an even smaller socket on or try with the vice grips again. After i got a few turns on the passenger side bolt it started falling apart like in the begining.

i used the trunk latch idea, and i will say i will never do that again! IT BROKE lucky for me i used jack stands under the car also

quote Originally posted by rauls88formula: i used the trunk latch idea, and i will say i will never do that again! IT BROKE lucky for me i used jack stands under the car also

Im sorry for not reading the whole thread, but you do NOT use the latch with the engine still in the car!!! That is complete idiocy.

Its too late now, but you should never use anything on a bolt except a six sided socket of the appropriate size (15MM in this case). Vice grips or anything else will just marr it up and make things worse. Unless it was allready screwed up, kinda sounds like thats what you had. In that case, take the next size down, I usually jump to SAE as a half step. Id reccomend good craftsman sockets, for the warranty. Hammer that sucker on there and pray. Never use a 12 point socket on a stuck bolt.

So go back with a 15mm six sided, no extension (they tend to make you go at it on a slight angle) and get on it as good as you can. As long as the bolt isnt rounded and slipping, just keep going with that. If it is rounded and slips, go to a 9/16 or 14mm, whichever is closer to fitting, and hammer it on. Put on your ratchet and the longest pipe you can find on its handle. Sometimes a 12 point will hammer on better than a 6 sided, but try the 6 sided first.

quote Originally posted by 86GT3.4DOHC: Not in defense of the latch, as Ive said too, its a bad idea, but its funny to note that I can actually pick up the back of the car with the cradle out. Its too akward to really move, but its not that heavy.

Picking up the back of the car using the latch is perfectly fine, so long as the engine is not in the car.

I've done it plenty myself, mainly to raise the car that extra inch to slide the cradle out

[This message has been edited by AutoTech (edited 05-08-2008).]

quote Originally posted by Richjk21: hey ... that's my car ... and my ramps ... and and my garage ... and I don't use the trunk latch either ..... you can check out my thread in the link above for what I did, but basically made a rig to go across the strut towers Rich

quote Originally posted by Richjk21: Ask and ye shall receive .... Here is my original post I made on the lifting blocks I used ..... Hmmm you actually had a comment in the original thread questioning the idea ... maybe you're warming up to it https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...060811-2-071299.html

i like this idea better than the trunk latch...if i find one i can double nut for the extra security..that or weld it on there

quote Originally posted by AutoTech: Im sorry for not reading the whole thread, but you do NOT use the latch with the engine still in the car!!! That is complete idiocy.

I agree that lifting with the engine in place is an unnecessary risk. It is just as easy to use the jack when positioning the cradle.

But, I HAVE lifted the car by the latch on a parts car once (hence I didn't care the result) because the jack was otherwise engaged at the time. I was pleased to note that the entire car was well supported by the latch for 45 minutes while I had lunch...v6 engine and all.

Hence, I find the comment by the guy with 15 posts to be not credible.

quote Originally posted by Toddster: I agree that lifting with the engine in place is an unnecessary risk. It is just as easy to use the jack when positioning the cradle. But, I HAVE lifted the car by the latch on a parts car once (hence I didn't care the result) because the jack was otherwise engaged at the time. I was pleased to note that the entire car was well supported by the latch for 45 minutes while I had lunch...v6 engine and all. Hence, I find the comment by the guy with 15 posts to be not credible.

Are you trying to say im not credible. If you look ive been here a little over a year and almost have a thousand posts.

quote Originally posted by mtownfiero: I had started with a 6 sided 15mm 3/8 drive but after breaking a bunch of tools i bought a 1/2in drive breaker bar and 15mm socket and the force from that did a pretty go job rounding it up from slipping on it. I did go to a 9/16 the oher day and thats what i got the little movement i did from it on the passenger side. Im going to try the 14mm on the passenger and 9/16 again on the drivers side tomorrow because its a little wet out now.

I think he was referring to the guy up there with 15 actual posts.


Rich

o ya could be lol.

If you guys are really that fascinated with lifting the car by the trunk area, use the cross beam, not the latch.



Here is a picture I found to illustrate what I am talking about. Never use the latch with engine in car.

wow you earn credits with how many posts you put up, thats lame. so the guy who has a thousand posts has to be the better machanic right? thats how you guys measure your ''things'' aruond here. thats halarious by the way the engine and cradle were out of the car when the latch broke. this is my first fiero (that ive owned) but defenatly not my first rodeo. ive worked on fieros before, after seeing the thread with the latch i thought it was a great idea (absolutly no disrespect to the poster) so i had to try it. im sorry but it just does not work for long periods of time so if you want to trust it go ahead, hey its a classic case of natural selection.

credibility isnt related to posts but usually people with the fewest posts are noobs or only come on to ask questions but not all people.

And I didn't say I agreed with Todd ...... sorry ... involuntary shudder there I was just clarifying things for mtownfiero....


Rich

I have noticed that the cars that live out here in the desert tend not to rust and they seem to retain their strength. I often wonder how some of those rust buckets hold together from the east or other locations using salt on the roads. The flip side is that our plastic and or other non-metal items tend to self destruct rather quickly...