Front Cradle Bolts

CincinnatiFiero · Post by **CincinnatiFiero** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:21 pm

no I didn't use the search feature, suck that!

I am trying to get the cradle out of the 87 for the swap and I cannot get the front bolts to move at all. I pb blastered them, breaker barred, and it it with a hammer, I took out the shocks and rear bolts and swung the crade down hoping that might help... nothing!

A buddy is going to come over with map gas and an air chisel entually but I'd like to get it out sooner. Any brilliant ideas?

Also, how to I disconnect the e-brake? I can't undo that clip.

Same goes for the wiring harness, I can't disconnect it at the firewall.

Fastback86 · Post by **Fastback86** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:36 pm

The wiring harness doesn't disconnect at the firewall, it goes through it. You have to unplug it at the ECM and feed it through the firewall.

FieroJimmy · Post by **FieroJimmy** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:40 pm

The mapp gas torch will not be of much use. They simply don't get hot enough. The air chisel will help. If you have access, you may also want to try an impact gun, just for the rotational shock. The one time I had a stuck cradle bolt, an air hammer with a ground down chisel tip (ground down to just a circle) drove it right out. Also, make sure you haven't got the weight of the cradle on the bolts as it will make them harder to get out.

If the e-brake cables are too tight to undo the clip, you can unscrew the adjuster (equalizer) to give you enough slack to do it.

And the harness doesn't come apart at the firewall, but over next to the battery. The other harness separates at a 3 piece connector on the fuel tank tunnel, below the ECM. Inside the car, that is.

CincinnatiFiero · Post by **CincinnatiFiero** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:51 pm

Alright, yeah the cradle is really stuck in there, I have an impact gun but I am underpowering it and don't want to buy new compressor right now (need a running, fast car for the 25th). I have a heat gun that says it does 1100 degrees, will that help at all?

Boscolingus · Post by **Boscolingus** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:34 pm

just cut the head of the bolt off, or the nut off with a high speed cutting wheel and call it a day

CincinnatiFiero · Post by **CincinnatiFiero** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:40 pm

Thats alternate plan b as I don't have one here I have to borrow one or buy one.

The Dark Side of Will · Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:56 pm

So the bolts are seized in the bushing inner sleeves?

That's a tough one all around, man. The rubber makes breaking them loose with an impact gun EXTREMELY difficult. I had to cut the bolts out of the front suspension pivots on my Formula to replace the control arms. It sucked.

If you can sacrifice a 3/8 drive extension, you can use it like a punch. Use the socket end to capture the tapered point of the bolt and then beat the shit out of it with a BFH. That's the same thing you'd do with an air chisel, but the air chisel's better at it.

Some of the force of your blows will be going into the lip against which the bolt tightens. That doesn't take sideways forces by itself very well, so you may want to brace it against the one on the other side via a carefully cut length of steel pipe or something similar.

p8ntman442 · Post by **p8ntman442** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:37 pm

Am I the only one that dosent think there is room to get a BFH in to pund on a punch to get these bolts out?

I have a lift, so the car goes up, and the impact goes to work. After the first time, they come out easy. If you get the nuts off, use pb blaster in the sleeves for as long as possible, and then crank it around with a wrench and a pipe. Also, make sure the rear bolts are in and the cradle is supported so there is no weight on the bolt at all.

CincinnatiFiero · Post by **CincinnatiFiero** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:22 pm

Well tomorrow I am going to go pick up a propane torch and see what I can do. A heat gun, supposidly rated at 1,100 degrees makes no where near enough power to heat these bastards out.

The Dark Side of Will · Tue Apr 01, 2008 7:05 am

p8ntman442 wrote:If you get the nuts off, use pb blaster in the sleeves for as long as possible, and then crank it around with a wrench and a pipe.

What happens is that the bolt seizes to the sleeve, and the sleeve lets go of the bushing. You end up being able to turn it but all you're doing is turning the sleeve in the rubber.

CincinnatiFiero · Post by **CincinnatiFiero** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:39 pm

Bought a propane torch, $12.95 with the nozzle and can of gas. A nozzle was $11.95 by itself and gas is $3.95 a can for propane and $7.95 for mapp, there was no mapp an nozzle deal. So the way I see it is if the propane doesn't work I can go buy a mapp can and be $1.00 behind the game.

Now: what do I do to avoid blowing myself to hell? The A/C system has nothing in it, but I am worried mostly (obviously) about the fuel lines, should I pull the filter out and drain the lines?

CincinnatiFiero · Post by **CincinnatiFiero** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:10 pm

edit: nevermind I was being a pansy, I got the other bolt off.

CincinnatiFiero · Post by **CincinnatiFiero** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:30 pm

So now that I have the nut off should I heat the head of the bolt and pound it out?

Blue Shift · Post by **Blue Shift** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:37 am

CincinnatiFiero wrote:edit: nevermind I was being a pansy, I got the other bolt off.

Don't be a pansy. It takes nuts to do this job. :la: Couldn't resist.

Yeah heat it till it's almost glowing and beat the everliving shit out of it. If you can get one of those big hammers with a short handle maybe you can get it in there, depending on which way the bolt faces.

CincinnatiFiero · Post by **CincinnatiFiero** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:09 pm

I'll heat them tomorrow, I don't feel like firing up the torch when I am this tired.