Fender Removal Trouble

[emmettaar]

Greetings all,
Well I have just spent two hours trying to get one of my front fenders off and could use some help. The two, I don't know what they're called (nut plates?), on the bottom front of the fender where it joins the front clip are spinning freely when I use my wrench on the bolt. I have not been able to get anything on the nut plates to keep them from turning, i.e. wrench, plyers.... Any hints or tips would be great!

Thanks in advance!
Brian

 

[TexasBronco]

The most common thing to do is run a hack saw down between the fender and the grill ;D. Works great!!!!!!

 

[TexasBronco]

Posted on: Today at 10:21:49pm
Posted on: Today at 10:20:35pm
just over a minute to reply, THATS WHY THIS SITE SHOULD BE NUMBER ONE IN VOTING!!!!!!!

 

[grant_71]

[quote author=TexasBronco link=board=5;threadid=15385;start=0#msg116470 date=1048044109]
The most common thing to do is run a hack saw down between the fender and the grill ;D. Works great!!!!!!
[/quote]
I second that unless you can get a plasma cutter in there to cut off one end of the bolt, that might work, but I havent tried, it was one of my daydreams during class today. Then there is the fact I dont have a plasma cutter....

 

[Skuzzlebutt]

Most folk remove the fenders and grill as a single unit then separate them later.

 

[BwoncoHowie]

They are called J-nuts. Pretty common body and sheet metal fasteners. I agree with the hacksaw or even a die grinder for removal if they are frozen or spinning. I get all my replacement fasteners at my local selfserve salvage yard. The SAE threaded ones are pretty standard on any pre 80's Ford. Pick up a bunch of extras, (fender bolts & J-nuts) you will probably find more rusted ones on your rig as time goes on. Then grease the threads on reassembly so they are easily removed next time. BH

 

[teknalee]

im not sure if i understand.. but when i don't have another person there to lend a hand.. i get a pair of vicegrips.. put em on the nut.. then turn the bolt.. eventually the vice grips will get wedged somewhere.. ... that plate on my bronco was STUCK.. i just cut it off.. and im gonna make my own

 

[carnage351]

If you are really careful you can use a cutting torch to remove them. This is what I had to do to remove my fenders.

I had the torch turned down as low as possible and melted the heads off the bolds. I managed not to hurt the inner or outer fender doing this but it did burn off the paint.

 

[Nuke]

I did just about all of the above.

Use vice grips to grasp the square clip. When that doesn't work, cut off the bolt with a dremel or die grinder.

Some of mine were just simple nuts and bolts from when the PO took them off. What would be wrong with replacing them all with those?

 

[Rustytruck]

Try locking the bolt and nut plate with a pair of vise grips and using a 6 point wrench or socket and snap the head off. A real knuckle buster but is usually quick and easy. Using a bolt and nut is usually a bad Idea since there are few spots under the fender you can get both hands in there to hold nd move wrenches. Use new nutplates and put some antisieze on the bolts when you put them back in. Hey Chuck how about putting a bolt and nutplate kit together with all the new bolts and plates enough to mount both fenders and the grill. usually you will have to run to several parts stores to get enough nut plates for just one fender.