The restoration of Wombat

I removed all the pedals and unbolted the firewall supports so I'm now ready to remove the firewall... except the two big bolts that hold it to the chassis are rusted solid. Any thoughts on how to get them free? (currently making Mr WD40 rich)

Heat occurred to me, but I don't have any - see my above post. Is a propane torch likely to give enough heat to free recalcitrant nuts? Seeing I'm diving into the chassis, I expect to meet this sort of problem again.

Edited to add: Just spoke to my Dad and he's still got his small gas bottle with the torch (this is stuff where you refill your bottle at hardware stores or petrol stations, I'm calling it propane but please correct me if I'm suffering a senior moment). I'll try to get down there tomorrow to pick it up.

Crackers, this type of heat is cheap n affordable,
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps4xgg4cam.jpg
it's fully adjustable flame will heat up the bolt, spray the affected bolt/s with penetrating oil while it's hot, it will make a lot of smoke, while it's hot do you have access to a rattle gun, if not a socket with a breaker bar, try not to get too big on the breaker bar or you could snap/bust the socket.
The gas guns are available @ places like Bunnings etc, cheers Dennis
ps if you buy one make sure the nozzle is the bigger one, as they do come in a smaller size for small solder jobs,,.

Where/how do you refill the bottle? Thanks for the tip on the nozzle.

Just had another go at these nuts with an impact driver (the old 'whack it with a hammer' type). No joy. Worth remembering as a frustration defuser though. Looking at the amount of rust on the bolt and nut, I'm beginning to wonder if, in this case, reaching for the angle grinder might be the smart option. Surely a pair of big bolts wouldn't be hard to replace.

Well, wasn't that fun (hint, it wasn't :mad:)

Had a closer look at the offending nuts and bolts - these are the big, half inch jobbies that hold the firewall to the chassis, one on each side. I decided there was too much rust to expect the nut to come free, no matter what I did, so I donned the leather apron and face mask, dug out the angle grinder and cut the nuts off.

Crackers top tip: After grinding off a nut, don't just put it in a plastic bag. Let it cool down first, otherwise, it just melts a hole in the bag :angel:

Right. Nuts are ground off. Just get an old bolt to use as a dolly and tap the bolt out right? Okay, maybe 'tap' isn't the right word, maybe you need to whack it. Okay, maybe belt the living daylights out of the thing :mad:
Nope, couldn't get the :censored: to move. Got the firewall to move on one side, but repeated bashing led me to fear bending it (mainly because I noticed I was :angel:)
Them :censored: bolts are rusted solid into the chassis and, at least on one side, into the firewall, though the other side still needs severe coercion to finish the job.

So I need heat after all.
And some inspiration. Please tell me those bolts are supposed to just tap out and that I'm not doing irreparable damage.

On a positive note, I think I found at least some of the head bolts and the head is now bolted to the block - no head gasket so I only nipped them up but it should be good enough to be able to life the engine out of the chassis. The head even has the two lifting points in place. Pity I don't have unimportant stuff like cam followers.

Well mate, you have just shifted the goal posts a bit further away LOL, I can understand cutting off the rusted nut but not the hex head of the bolt, as now you have nothing to use a socket n breaker bar on.
The canisters on the MAP gas gun are disposable, not re-usable, readily available where you buy the torch from. I would still apply heat (when you get something to apply it with) and try to get some penetrating fluids in n on the bolt, you could try (after heating) dropping penetrating fluid between the bulkhead upright and the chassis out rigger, if this proves fruitless then what I would do is get a 'thin' metal cutting disc and cut the bolt in half where the bulkhead meets the chassis on the outrigger end, cut through any spacer washer that might be there, keep in your mind the thickness of said washer as you will need to replace it later.
If you go down this path, you will need to support the bulkhead because as you cut through it will/might jam the cutting disc causing it to fly to pieces.
Once you have the bulkhead off, you will still need to remove the broken bolt/s, at least if you can dot the bolt in the center, you may be able to drill it out in stages, then hopefully with the heat from the drill it might make it loose enough to drive it out, hope that's of some help/consolation for you, your arms are going to get a workout, cheers Dennis

I haven't cut the head of the bolt off so I've still got that option (darn, no wiping sweat from forehead smilie).

The firewall is, from memory, open at the inside so I can get heat onto the tube that holds the bolt. Heat that up, then apply force, get firewall free. See, I'm still an optimist :eek:

As for getting the bolt out of the chassis - the tube holding the bolt is enclosed inside the chassis (I think, actually, I'm pretty sure it is). I can only hope that heating the bolt and applying pressure via the head of the bolt will start to get things moving.

Sheesh, this was supposed to be one of the more obviously simple jobs. Shows how you shouldn't pre-guess these beasts :mad:

Is this why this part of the dismantling process is always glossed over in the 'tutorials' you see? It seems such an obvious place to get rust and problems that I'm amazed that it's not more well documented (hint, this is where you point me to countless threads telling me how to get around this :cool:).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dinty

I would still apply heat (when you get something to apply it with) and try to get some penetrating fluids in n on the bolt, you could try (after heating) dropping penetrating fluid between the bulkhead upright and the chassis out rigger, if this proves fruitless then what I would do is get a 'thin' metal cutting disc and cut the bolt in half where the bulkhead meets the chassis on the outrigger end, cut through any spacer washer that might be there, keep in your mind the thickness of said washer as you will need to replace it later.
If you go down this path, you will need to support the bulkhead because as you cut through it will/might jam the cutting disc causing it to fly to pieces.

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I'm getting fed by my Mum tomorrow and at the same time, picking up my Dad's gas torch so I'm right for heat (and for tucker) :D
Wouldn't believe I'm old enough to be a grandpa meself would you, but I'se is, even if the kids aren't showing signs of producing kids themselves.

For supporting the firewall, I'm using my engine crane. I'd hoped to reveal this at the last moment as a 'wow' moment, but seeing I now have the brute, I couldn't see why it couldn't help with stuff other than just the engine. At the moment, it's hooked up to the two pivots for the windscreen so that once the firewall is free, it'll be free to dangle from the crane.

if you get one bolt out, you can use the firewall it's self as a dirty great big lever and twist the remaining bolt with lots of WDCRINORP or what ever fluid.

Watch out you don't rivet the bolt in the hole by using a drift and hammer, as that can mushroom the end inside the hole. a little heat is good but keep it to a black heat and getting it to glow white hot is not the thing to do.

Oh yeah and think of all the want-a-be patron saints of the Land Rover and pray to them.

Failing all of the above one of the stuck halves can be drilled out.

drill it out would be my first option.
cheers,
D

Patron saints of Land Rover? But I'm not into devil worship :twisted:

I'm glad others find these brutes hard too. I wonder how many people in the know just say 'fuggit' and restore the vehicle with the firewall in place.

Regarding the heating, just apply the torch to the head and get it off before things turn red, is that right?
Let it cool before trying the socket? I'm asking this because wouldn't heating the bolt make it expand in that tube?

Useful tip about riveting the bolt into that tube, thanks. hope I haven't already done that.

My dad suggested putting my power drill onto hammer mode to drill it out. Any thoughts? Especially regarding the 'rivet' theory?