Rusted door hinge bolt removal?

[Mike Hall]

I need to rebuild the door hinges on my wife's 66 bronco and I Cant get the darn bolts out. The bolts are Philips head which happened to be stripped out. I have tried welding a nut to the bolts but the weld just snaps before I get even a little torque on it. I use a hole saw to cut the back of the pillar to see what it looked like and the bolts and the bolt plates are rusted bad. The pillars themselves are in great shape so I would rather not have to remove them. Any ideas on what to do?

Mike

 

[Madgyver]

Weld a 3/8" nut to it, doing it from inside the threads, this will let you use a 9/16" socket or wrench to it and weld it at a high setting but not enough to melt the nut. When you're done blast it with oil or WD40 be careful it may catch fire but blast it with more oil. Doing this (Hot/Cold) will break the bond between the metals and you should be able the remove it with an impact driver or impact wrench.

It may not work the 1st time but don't give up just keep trying and you will win.

Don't let the bronco defeat you!!!

 

[Mike Hall]

Well, thats what I was doing but i did not spray it with oil. I would just let it cool and then put a wrench on it. Maybe I should get the tig out and try it as It may have a stronger weld. The problem was that the weld would just snap.

Mike

 

[Madgyver]

Prep the surface bolt head, with a die grinder to get better penetration with the weld. You need to do this if it is the older countersunk type bolts..

 

[Flintknapper]

In my experience....you can pretty much plan on twisting some of them off.

Fortunately they are fairly soft and drill out easily. Then re-tap the hole, "anti-seze" the new bolt and never look back.

 

[Mike Hall]

I went back out and turned the head up on the welder and that did the trick. I got the drivers side hinges off and I think the passenger side should come off just as easy. I had the right idea but I guess I just needed more heat and some WD.

Mike

 

[Dan76]

Well you're sure a late night wrencher!

 

[Mike Hall]

Im a night owl thats for sure. LOL Time to his the sac now though. Passenger side hinges will be removed tomorrow.

Mike

 

[Fishbone]

It's nice quitin' on a high note! Glad ya got 'em.;D

 

[Madgyver]

Glad that I could help.....

 

[Mike Hall]

Got the passenger side bolts out easy. They did not seem to be near as rusted up as the drivers side bolts. Now I just need to drill out the hinges and install the hinge repair kit. The drivers side hinges had been drilled out to large so I guess I will have to weld the holes up and drill new smaller holes for the pins. See any problems with doing that?

Mike

 

[admin]

Did you get one of the hinge rebuild kits from a vendor? Or are you just re-drilling for your old stock hinge pins?

 

[Mike Hall]

I got the hinge rebuild from BG. I rebuilt one hinge and it so darn tight I dont think it will be usable. I followed the instructions and drilled everything on my drill press with a jig so Im not sure whats up. I have to clamp one end of the hinge in my vise and then nock the other end around with a hammer. Anyone have some good used hinges for sale? LOL

Mike