| Author | Message | ||
| R.C.Bishop (128.123.221.137)
Rating: N/A |
OK. two years and most of the "hard stuff" done...or so I thought. Boy,was I wrong. A couple of weeks ago I opened the engine bay (amidships) on this marvelous Crown Highway Coach and guess what? The bay door fell off. Good old rubber hinge and the New Mexico Sunshine, I suppose. No problem I thought. Ordered some new Aluminum Hinge material and on this cloudy, somewhat cool, day decided to attempt the replacement. Only 20 stainless Phillips screws and the job would be done. Wrong, again. After working all day, have managed 11 screws out, with two of those broken off rather than removed, Tried all the usual stuff. Beat,heat, Liquid Wrench, beat some more, heat some more, Vice Grips, an assortment of new Cobalt bits,screw extractors, more heat , more beat, more vice grips and liquid wrench. 9 hours later 9 screws remain.!!! Phooey!! Short of ripping the beautiful skin off each screw what have I not thought of that will work? I have three more bay doors to tackle. Holy Cow..... Thanx to all those who have gone before me and wish to share advice.  > RCB | ||
| two dogs (66.90.216.119) Rating: N/A |
are they screws....no nuts behind? if they got nuts ,use a nut buster,,,,if they are threaed in,,,,soak in coke cola..for three days and go to sears and get screw extractors....if all else fales...grind them off and drill new holes | ||
| Phil (204.89.170.126) Rating: N/A |
HAve you tried an impact driver? Not an impact wrench but a tool that uses a screw driver bit and is hit with a hammer which both shocks the screw and slightly turns it. | ||
| Ed Roelle (68.61.85.10)
Rating: N/A |
2 ideas. First. Everyone has there favorite penetrant. I have examples where Liquid Wrench and others, would not budge difficult fasteners. But, GM Heat Valve Penetrant Part Number 1052627 worked excellent. Soak a couple of times and let sit overnight. If phillip slot gets ruined, try vise grips on the outside, or grind a slot for a flat bladed screwdriver. I have also used an impact wrench (not impact driver) after the penetrant, where I could put maximum force into the head so as not to ruin the fastener. 2nd. If that fails and if your can, heat the head of the screw red hot (with a small tip), and use the impact wrench. Ed Roelle Flint, MI | ||
| Ross Carlisle (Ross) (216.107.197.130)
Rating: N/A |
I had a few of these stubborn screws on my MC9. I used a plasma cutter to get them out. Just aim the torch at the center of the screw head and give it a short burst. It blows the screw out of the hole. After that, run a drill through the hole to clean out the slag. I've used the plasma to cut off nut without damaging the bolt and to remove rusted bolts without damaging the threads....This is a bit trickier than removing screws though. Ross | ||
| Bruce Wayne (24.242.119.9) Rating: N/A |
grind'em off, or leave them and put new fasteners in between the old ones | ||
| John Biundo (Jbiundo) (64.175.37.127)
Rating: N/A |
I'm with Ed. My favorite lubricant is AeroKroil (see http://www.thomasregister.com/olc/kano/kanopnlu.htm) Definitely worked wonders on some nasty rusted screws on my MC9. Also, loosening phillips head screws is torturous. I found it often better to grind a slot (with a dremel tool) to get the better leverage of a slotted head screwdriver. | ||
| R.C.Bishop (128.123.221.174)
Rating: N/A |
Two days later, after trying the GM Heat Valve Penetrant,... and I only have 17 screws to go, out of 40. Whooopee!. Hey, makin' progress and that's what counts, right? Then only two more bays after that. Long, hot summer. Thanx for the tips. I wish I had a Plasma cutter. That sounds like the cat's pajamas. RCB 1964 Crown Highway Coach | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)
Rating: N/A |
Hey R.C. Does this mean I am going to go crazy trying to remove ALL of those neat special pesky screws/rivets that hold up all of the interior ceiling panels on my '74 Crown 10-wheeler? Oh no, the mind boggles. Well, my feeble mind anyway. Maybe Gary S will tell us/me/you where he got that special 24 point screwdriver head for all of those 24 point screws. He had some $custom$ made if memory serves. Oh, by the way, do not let your Crown sit very long. I just pulled out a HUGE mice nest from the oven. Complete with dinky mice. I let 'em go. You had a rubber hinge on the mill door? Very strange. My Crown has the piano type stainless full length hinge. Bet yours was weakened by all the 100 mph runs your highway coach had. CROWNS FOREVER!!!! Henry of CJ | ||
| R.C.Bishop (128.123.221.201)
Rating: N/A |
Henry.....yep, both engine bay doors have rubber hinges. The spare tire bay has a steel hinge that has been painted and seems to have been put there somewhere along the way, rather than original equipment. It was affixed with rivets. As I proceed it will be replaced with aluminum hinge. Not to worry about the crown head screws in the overhead. They were fairly easy to remove. The drip rail screws were tough, the screws holding the trunk door were much tougher and the bay doors are by far the worst. All of the above are phillips head, not crown head. In the instance of the exterior, I just don't want to damage the surface of the skin, but I'll no doubt end up putting body moulding along the bay door line to cover the marks of removal with vice grips. Contact me off line when you are ready to remove those overhead and maybe we can let you "borrow" the removal tool. I wouldn't spend the $$ on having one made. Not worth it. For the most part the screws are corroded and it is doubtful you would want to re-use them. I purchased all new screws from Fastenal (SS) at a good price. But careful, they are 304 stainless and the heads will strip easily, or break at the neck. Use about 4-6 lbs of torque max. Wrotsa wruk.... RCB | ||
| Johnny (63.159.125.103)
Rating: N/A |
My choice for stuck screws: heat them with a torch (propane works, oxy-acetalene is better), then quench them with WD-40. Yes, I have a CO2 extinguisher handy. If that doesnt' work, grab the drill. | ||
| R.C.Bishop (128.123.221.190)
Rating: N/A |
Bottom line for me was three days of soaking, heating impacting and finally got all removed with Vice Grips ground, in many cases to "fit the screw". Minimal damage to skin. As for drilling stainless screws.....what do you guys know that I don't? Waste of good money, precious time and ...PATIENCE. Thanx for all the comments. RCB | ||
| Ross Carlisle (Ross) (216.107.197.174)
Rating: N/A |
"As for drilling stainless screws.....what do you guys know that I don't?" Use a good bit, drill slow and keep the bit cool. Drilling stainless with too much RPM will smoke a drill bit real fast. Ross | ||
| Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (64.114.233.247)
Rating: N/A |
I have found that drilling a small hole in a sheet of stainless went much better if I did the drilling without any cutting fluid. When I oiled the work, the bit would only make a mark on the surface. I haven't had to do this many times, so maybe there was something special about the jobs that I did. I only know that it worked for me. FWIW Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 Suncatcher | ||
| R.C.Bishop (128.123.221.209)
Rating: N/A |
Tom....I was addressing drilling out the screw itself. I was in the Steel business for years and we never figured out a way to do it cost effectively. But your point is well taken and I agree with you about stainless sheet. Cobalt bits are recommended by the screw house, but they are a poor to mediocre choice as far as I am concerned. One can wear a bit out in seconds unless the RPMs are just right. The idea of blowing them with a Plasma Cutter sounds like a real possibility to me.....if one has a Plasma Cutter. The local rental company quoted $56 for 4 hours. A bit pricey for me, so I took the "po boy" route, Vice Grips and a whole bunch of fortitude. Thanx , as usual, for your your input. RCB | ||
| Dell (165.247.209.204) Rating: N/A |
I used PB Blaster on some particularly corroded large screws (seat rail) in my MC-9. It was better than WD40 (I think) and about the same as beating on it. But with several, I just ground them off with a cutoff wheel. Should have done that the first day. Actually I cut an "X" or simply a "I" in the top of the screw, then used the impact wrench with a chisel to get them to break free, then the impact wrench with an impact screwdriver bit attached to unscrew them. If that didn't work (and on a few it didn't) I just cut the things off. They obviously wanted to stay, and I was tired of argueing. |