$%!#& Bolt

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Posted by Deane

Hi Tom,

Looks like that bolt is about to meet its match.

One other thing I've heard of, for removing really stuck pieces of ferrous metal, is EDM (electro-discharge machining).  It's just the thing when you snap a tap off inside one of your heads or engine block. The process is basically a carbon electrode in a kerosene bath, with a power supply attached - the tiny sparks vaporize equally tiny bits of metal until you've "drilled" out your bolt or tap.  Might be hard to do with that big suspension arm attached, though.

Good luck!

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Posted by Tom

I'm happy to announce, the bolt has lost its grip!

Story to follow!

Tom

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Posted by Jonathon

Glad to hear the bolt has cooperated!  FWIW, Bill White (a fellow 330GT 2+2 restorer who helped me with the head puller) does this EDM all day long, among many other things - so if there are other truculent bolts in the SF Bay area, he can help.  He can be reached at cantool@pacbell.net

Cheers,
Jon

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Posted by Kerry

Tom, of course you know that the owner's manual requires that the leaf springs be cleaned with paraffin (kerosene) and oiled lightly every 6000 miles.

Performing that service will keep all of those bolts working freely.

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Posted by Tom

Hi Kerry,

So that's how they keep those $#@! bolts from seizing up!

Tom

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Posted by Tom

Hi Kerry,

So that's how they keep those $#@! bolts from seizing up!

Tom

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Posted by Tom

Hi Jonathon,

How much does this EDM process cost? If it's not too expensive, it might be worth looking into for our cars.

How's the rebuild coming along?

Tom