I recently purchased an 88 Fiero Formula with a few engine problems. As part of my college degree, I am taking an engine rebuild class, and I decided my car would be the perfect project. So far, we struggled to pull the cradle off, and after putting the weight of the entire cradle on the rear bolts, they kept spinning. So we took a Sawzall to the bolts and dropped the cradle. Now we cannot seem to figure out how the bolts are stuck in the frame, and our next step will be cutting a hole in the frame so we can get to those bolts and rip them out. I was wondering if there were any tips for this, either cutting the hole (we are planning on using a hole saw) or on what is holding those bolts on so stubbornly. I have found a couple of other topics on taking the bolts off, but I wasn't sure if they were for the 88s, as I know it has a different suspension setup. If anyone can provide some help on this subject, as well as any other things to look out for as I start disassembly soon I would greatly appreciate it! I will attach a picture of the cradle dropped, we have since detached the engine and are working on putting the cradle back on so it is at least a rolling chassis. Thank you for your help, I am very grateful for such a supportive community!

Ok first off, is the car strapped to that lift in any way? I can't see the front of the car but you removed a bulk of the weight from the rear so make sure it is balanced correctly or strapped to the lift or the entire car could flip forward. Next, where are you lifting the car from? Is the lift crushing the coolant tubes that run along the bottom of the car? These are vital things to address before you do anything else.
These are the lift points:

I don't mean to jump on you but your photo gets my mind questioning safety and I just want you and the car to be safe and in 1 piece

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 01-19-2023).]

We do have it strapped down pretty well, we lifted it up by the subframe and checked to make sure we would be clear. I was a bit sketchy before we got the engine out, but it is well-balanced now. It took a minute to find a good spot, but it is clear from all the lines under the body as well. Not the easiest car to put on a lift, but we made sure to be really safe about it, we have an instructor who has a lot of experience in this. Thanks for your concern though!

No problem. I used to be friends with some of the mechanics back when the engine recalls happened in the 80's and I can't tell you how many fell off the lifts. But, back then, we had different types of lifts than today.

Since you have the wheel well liners off, have you checked the frame for rust? Frames are notorious for rusting and falling apart depending on the origin of the car. Here in California we have cars with no rust but other states that are wetter have problems. Hopefully it doesn't look like this:

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 01-19-2023).]

I had luck when I ran into the same problem with removing the rear crash bar. You can see down the frame rails to the captive nut. It is welded to a plate and then has a thin sheetmetal "housing" that allows the nut to move around but not spin. This is probably rusted away like it was on mine allowing the nuts welded to plates to spin.

I recommend cutting the bolts flush to the frame with sawzall or angle grinder, removing rear crash bar and pulling the nuts out, try and rip all the rusted sheet metal out. I then welded new nuts to much longer pieces of steel and slipped them in place. I have nothing retaining them, but I have pulled the cradle probably 10+ times since and it has never been an issue with them moving out of place. If you were concerned, you could drill some small holes (1/4") on the underside of the frame rail under your new metal pieces in there, install the cradle and then spot weld the plate to the frame at the small holes. You would just make sure your plates are long enough and holes far apart enough that they clear the rear cradle pads so you can spot weld them with the cradle installed.

But mine have never given me a problem. And I jack the car up from a 4x4 to pull the cradle, so it is at close to a 30* angle and they still don't move or slide. You can always screw the bolts back in once the cradle is removed to ensure they don't move out of place until you are ready to put the cradle back in. I am not a fan of cutting massive holes in the frame rails.

[This message has been edited by zkhennings (edited 01-19-2023).]

That sounds great, I think we are going to try to do that. Thanks again!

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