[Terry M. Hunt]

Have the doors off my 66 GTO in preparation for media blasting entire car soon. Want to remove hinges. Bottom one is no problem since it is attached with hex head bolts. Top hinge is attached with 3 Phillips head screws that I have not been able to break loose. Soaked them well with WD 40 and used an impact driver with a large hardened phillips boy but no dice so far. Before I continue banging on them with this tool thought I’d ask for tips from others who have already found a solution.

[Jeff Hamlin]

I always use my impact driver with a #3 bit.

[Terry M. Hunt]

Geeze, I meant “ large hardened phillips BIT, not boy

[Jeff Hamlin]

Sorry Terry I read right over your use of the impact

Might try soaking them, then hit with heat.

[Bob with the 66]

Originally Posted by Jeff Hamlin

I always use my impact driver with a #3 bit.

X2, That tool with a #3 bit has only been taken out of my tool box and used twice in it's life. Both times was for my 66 door hinge removal. lol...

Lots of PB Blaster from the inside, and the use of a pretty good size hammer will do the trick, it may take a while so be very patient. The hard part is getting the lock washer loose under the head of the bolt.

My doors were going to be completely redone so spraying them with PB Blaster was not an issue, if yours are painted you might not want to use it.

Best of luck,

[ta6point6]

Have you tried a long pry bar and a phillips socket? You can get a lot of torque on it with a pry bar. You might need someone else to keep pressure on head of socket while you pull on pry bar. Good luck

[dataway]

Not sure how much experience you have with an impact driver ... they take some time to really get the hang of. Don't think I've ever seen them fail to do the job. Remember you have to crank the piece you hold over in the counter clockwise direction while the bit is engaged ... hold it over there, then strike ... can be a bit awkward to get the knack of.

[slowride66]

I have been very successful with bolt extractions.

You will absolutely think I a nuckin Futz.

Using torch try to heat one or the other letting them cool independently AND here is the crazy part, READY (lol) Use candle wax as a penetrate.

It really works

I learned this one in desperation of a failed U joint & tiny tiny U bolts . We tried every type of slick what ever. then my friend Don (RIP) says "I know one more trick steals his wife's candle off the kitchen table & we did this & it came right loose like magic.

I still have that same candle .

A good high quality bit is nice too .

I hope it works for ya

SR66

[Terry M. Hunt]

Many thanks for the replies. I went back and rechecked my impact driver to be sure it was turning counterclockwise when struck. You guessed it......clockwise. Got this corrected and figured I had it made. Not exactly. Considerable more pounding, more WD 40, highest setting on my heat gun but still could not break these loose. More pounding and then clamped the biggest vice grip I had to the handle of the biggest honking Phillips screwdriver in the box. Applied max torque and “POW” the first one broke loose. More heat, more banging, and more heat gun followed until I got all these @&!”)$@ bolts out. Been restoring these cars since 1978 but I know there will always be stuff like this that comes up, making this a character building hobby for all of us!

[Sloan66]

I wish I could remember where I found this but I use a 50/50 mixture of acetone and ATF to loosen rusted bolts. It works much better than wd40 or PB Plaster in my experience.

[george kujanski]

The acetone/ATF mix has been mentioned many times on these forums also.

Les Iden also mentioned the wax method. That worked REALLY well when I was changing my body mounts.

george