Topic: Stubborn engine guard bolt

[McQueen 750]

So I'm removing the engine guard and this bottom left 15 mm bolt won't budge. Tried soaking with 3 in 1 oil, 18 inch leverage wrench, and I get nothing. Before I stripped the head, I wanted to see if any of you any luck with this?

[ekpent]

Have you applied any heat and oil to the nut that rests in the case on the backside of the bolt.Maybe a longer pipe on your ratchet handle and be sure to use a six point socket.Kinda scary though how that nut is held in place by the cases,would hate to see it spin and crack or break there. Worst case scenario though is if you have to cut the head off to remove at least you have the old mount to chew up and not the frame.

[cookindaddy]

+1 ekpent

I'd be afraid of damaging the case. Grinding the bolt head off and then driving the shaft and the nut out with a pin punch would be a pretty safe way of getting it out. You won't be reusing the bolt or nut anyway.

The chrome looks reasonable on the engine guard and that might suffer from the grinding but it is much easier to find a new engine guard than to fix the case.

[Fritz]

Well, the easiest way I can think of, is to center punch the bolt head and just drill it out with a good quality 8mm drill. The head will fall off without any effort

[Gaither]

IF you have an air impact wrench (or can go where there is one) turn it down to its LOWEST torque setting, use a 6-point socket and go for it. It will slowly "tap" on the bolt until it comes loose - with no thread damage.

This also works well on those difficult OIL FILTER housing bolts - and almost any "stuck" bolt. I've used it on Ford 4.6 V/8 aluminum heads to safely remove "stuck" spark plugs with great success (when a breaker bar would have stripped the alum threads).

Works for me!

[MCRider]

Well, the easiest way I can think of, is to center punch the bolt head and just drill it out with a good quality 8mm drill. The head will fall off without any effort

Yeah I like this the best. The problem with any attempt to get that bolt head to turn is that the real problem is likely the nut is stuck to the bolt. If you turn the bolt head, that part you see, you'll likely just turn the nut on the other end. Depending on its size it could break the cases a little bit.  Even if it doesn't break the cases its still rusted to the bolt and you're not going to accomplish anything.

Get rid of the bolt head and the rest is easy.