Help removing bumper brackets?

Minivansomeren

Minivansomeren

Well-Known Member
Messages
212
Reaction score
155
Location
Flagstaff, AZ
Hi, I’m trying to take my front bumper off my ‘71 so my metal work guy can take a dent out.

IMG_9800.jpeg


I have 3 of the 4 nuts off the bumper brackets, but the last one the bolt just spins. The other 3 bolts (yellow arrow) don’t feel like studs - the bolt feels loose but it may be a square head or something because it doesn’t spin. Unfortunately the bolts come out of what seems like a closed box-member (green) so there is no way to get in there and hold the bolt head. Is that true?

Anybody know how those bolts are held in place in that box member, or how to access them? I guess my next move would be to cut a slot in the bolt with a grinder so I can hold it while spinning the nut with a box wrench, but I don’t know if I’m missing something
 
As HB Chris said, these are carriage bolts. The square section immediately under the head should be captured by the slot that these fit into. Perhaps someone used a conventional bolt (without that square section) or perhaps the slot has become enlarged from someone overtorqueing things. My suggestion is to use a nut splitter, since the nut is readily accessible and is an easily replaced, standard nut. If you find that a plain bolt was used, an inch-sized carriage bolt (3/8, 7/16?) can be substituted (yea, that's crude, but sourcing a metric carriage bolt in Flagstaff may be a challenge).

Note that once the four nuts are off, you will have to loosen the nuts at the front of the brackets, at the bumper, to allow the brackets to spread outward to clear the bolts.
 
Last edited:
jmackro said:
As HB Chris said, these are carriage bolts. The square section immediately under the head should be captured by the slot that these fit into. Perhaps someone used a conventional bolt (without that square section) or perhaps the slot has become enlarged from someone overtorqueing things. My suggestion is to use a nut splitter, since the nut is readily accessible and is an easily replaced, standard nut. If you find that a plain bolt was used, an inch-sized carriage bolt (3/8, 7/16?) can be substituted (yea, that's crude, but sourcing a metric carriage bolt in Flagstaff may be a challenge).

Note that once the four nuts are off, you will have to loosen the nuts at the front of the brackets, at the bumper, to allow the brackets to spread outward to clear the bolts.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that is helpful. And after getting it off, it all makes sense. I just couldn’t imagine how the bolts were held since the slots are covered by the bracket.

Turns out it wasn’t the bolt that was loose, the nut was just stripped and spinning on the bolt. I had to cut it off.
 
jmackro said:
Ah, a stripped nut hadn't occurred to me. Glad you got it apart and that the slots that grip the carriage bolts wasn't damaged.
Click to expand...
Yeah didn’t really occur to me either, until I cut a slot in the bolt end, held it with a screwdriver, turned the nut with a box wrench and it still wouldn’t come off. This is the second evidence of “caveman wrenching” I’ve found on the car in my 4 months of ownership. The first was a broken bolt that was supposed to hold the seat to the slider, and was replaced with a drywall screw. Kind of disconcerting.

But yes you’re right, definitely better outcome than having the frame damaged.
 
Seperate the bracket from the engine support enough to jam a chisel between the two. This will stretch the nut and bolt to hopefully get some friction and then the nut can come off. It may pull the carriage bolt (if still there, probably edges are rounded off) into the slot you cannot see in the engine support and catch enough to allow removal. I would hit it with a torch before doing either, nothing to harm there with a litte heat. Lowe's has a huge selection of galvanized carriage bolts for replacement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top