Broken Door Hinge Bolts

[samamarshall]

So I have a major problem with my Broncro, which I'm preparing to get back on the road after 10 years of sitting. Apart from the engine and brake problems, which I should be able to tackle, my doors are not aligned and hang down. Back when I drove this daily (i was in high school and not too bright) I took the doors off and sheared hinge bolts on the body side when putting them back on. I have a few on each side, all hinges.

How can I get to the back of the door pillar to get to the mounting plates, remove the broken bolts, and then get them back into place and install new bolts? The plates move around, I assuming to allow for adjustment, but I can't see how to get to them. I've never had the fenders off, and I don't think it will be fun trying to get them on/off without causing any body damage that will need repair.

Any suggestions? Once I get my camera back, I'll be posting photos of my rig and my progress and hopefully start a build thread. Thanks guys!

PS I found a rear seat and am buying it this weekend! My little ones can ride in the back if I ever get this thing on the road!

 

[zeeman1]

You could drill from the front, load with PB blaster and try to get them with an eazy-out, but removing the fender would probably be easier.

 

[phred]

Couple ways to do this from my experience. Take off the hinges and door. Soak the broken bolts with penetrating oil of your choice for a few days. the longer the better. If you have access to a welder and the bolts stick out far enough thread a nut on to the bolt and weld the nut to it. The heat from welding and the penetrating oil will help break the rust free and it should back out. If you have an air ratchet or butterfly wrench set your air pressure down to about 50 psi and let the wrench "hammer" on the bolt some if is still stubborn. The hammering will sometimes break it loose too.

If the bolts are broken flush you are going to have to drill them out and most likely retap the holes. Start with a small 1/8" or so kobalt or tungsten carbide bit and go up in size a bit at a time.

 

[Explorer]

I have removed the fenders and cut an access hole in the backside and it does make it easy to take them out and replace/repair. Only problem with this method is the 3 phillips head screws that attach fender to door post. They are usually worse to remove than the hinge bolts. Good luck. It's never easy either way.

 

[Broncology]

I just went through the same thing, but only had one broken bolt. Just trying to remove that one was a pain in the rear, and I couldn't even get it out...had to take it to a shop. The shop drilled it out and re-tapped it. My method was using the easy-outs...but in my case it was really stuck and I ended up breaking about 3 easy outs. Good luck!

 

[deltarat]

If you weld, weld on a nut to the broken bolt and work it back and forth while it is still warm. If the bolt is broken flush, first weld a flat washer to the broken bolt. You can get to it better that way. Then weld a nut to the washer. Some times it is better to work it when it is hot and some times it works better to cool it real fast with water and try it.

 

[Past_Miner]

If you end up having to drill the bolt out be very careful about getting your pilot hole exactly in the center of the bolt. I have drilled out many, many bolts and you mostly just need to be careful with your set-up. If the bolt won't come out any other way (I would try welding a nut, washer, nut and washer, etc. first) then carefully grind the bolt flat against the backing plate until you can see the outline of the bolt in the hole. If you grind carefully it will look like a fine crack. Go down to your local Harbor Freight or other cheap tool source and get a set of transfer punches. These are center punches that are of various diameters. They are normally used to fit through an existing hole and transfer the center point to another work piece. Here you can get the 5/16 diameter one out and use it to center up on the end of the bolt. Punch the center of the bolt and drill it out.

The hinge bolts are 5/16-18 thread. The correct drill size is 1/4" for these threads. If you are really careful you should be able to drill the bulk of the bolt away and rethread the hole with a standard hand tap. You may want to start with a litle smaller bit, just in case you aren't exactly on center. Lots of time the remaining bolt will turn right out after it's been drilled. If it won't, drill it out to 1/4" and run the tap through it.

 

[LEDCREATIONS]

Sounds lke fun! I'm going to have to do this too.
My method will be soaking them in wd-40 and CLR haha then welding the nut washer nut and air ratchet out.
I have about 8 of them to do
If that doesn't work I'm F'd too

 

[Madgyver]

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117541&highlight=plasma+cutter

 

[Steve83]

That nut plate is captive inside the lower A-pillar - you can't remove it or get to its backside without cutting the A-pillar off the body, or cutting out its front side (facing the back of the front tire).

I recommend several steps of LH drilling, followed by the short hex-head multi-groove sprial extractors, like Snap-On sells.