leaf spring removale help

[KacyZ28]

im tring to take my leafs outta my 69 camaro and i cant get one bolt out.its the one that the nut is actually in the rocker panel anyone have a way of getting in there to hold the nut without a torch

[OHCbird]

Did you try to drop the spring perch plate?

[Stu Seitz]

Yeah the spring perch is what you need to take out. It's three bolts that just screw into the frame. Came out pretty easy for me when I replaced my leafs

[TonyHuntimer]

Hey Kacy,

Did you get a copy of my book? I wrote a short section about these stupid nuts.

I don't have my book within my reach and I'm eating dinner. It should be in the rear suspension section with a picture of a front perch and a pry bar.



Good luck,
Tony Huntimer
RaceHome.com

[MrQuick]

yeah them perch bolts SUCK!!! I bet its the last one you lossened too hu??? I've had luck jaming a large screw driver (not mine of coarse) to wedge the nut still.Then impact the crap out of it. Don't worry getting them back in will be a pain in the ASS too!

[BRIAN]

Cut bolt head off with a cut off wheel, then just push through. Remove when you take off plate. By the way Home Depot sells 4" Norton metal cut off wheels for angle grinders that work better than just about anything.

[TonyHuntimer]

I have had most success with the prybar method. I usually use Vince's large screw driver to pry the spring perch down while using the impact gun on the bolt.

Do yourself a favor and get some new spring perch nuts. Using the old ones again is bad news. They are only a few dollars. PLEASE DON'T do the method of drilling a hole through the floorboard and run an extra long bolt from the inside of the car through the floorboard down under the car. I've seen this, and it's not pretty. The car was trashed with "special" engineering. The guy should have just purchased 5 foot bolts and run the leaf spring bolts all the way through the roof of the car.



Good luck,
Tony Huntimer
RaceHome.com

[KacyZ28]

ochbird the spring perches are what im trying to take loose...
tony i havent sent the check yet
mrquick where did you find a place to put a screw driver in the rocker panel to hold that nut..and i dont have an impact where the car is the compressor wont handle that kinda abuse

if i do have to drill a hole it wont be the first tha was done to this poor car and i wont use bolts to long

[MrQuick]

Well if you got a die grinder and a cut off wheel go Brians way and cut the head off and pry it out. Ain't 30+ cars a BIATCH good luck and watch the knuckles.

[Jim Nilsen]

All you need to do is remove the head of the bolt and it will come off. Then you can just remove the j clip and the rest of the bolt with a chisel , hammer and pliers.

The easy way ? Hold the out side of the bolt with some vise grips or any thing that will keep it from spinning and drill the head off with a 3/8 drill bit maybe a 7/16. Either way it will remove the head and it will come apart. Make sure you center punch the head befor you start so you are centered.

I usually have used a torch but don't recommend it to most since you can mess up the perch if your not careful.

The grinder will work too if that is all you have but the drill method is about the cleanest way.


Jim Nilsen

[Steve Chryssos]

This thread will help a lot more people in the future if it's located in the SUSPENSION topic.

Damn Jim!
I see you are in Rockford. I was just passing thru there on my way to the land of cheese and beer. I would have loved to see your car. Coming along great based on your avatar.

[Jim Nilsen]

Hey , that would have been great to see you. I am so easy to get to from the interstate that you almost feel like you never left the autobauhn.

If you go on buy Rockford on I 90 you are within 15 min of my place at the most .

Thanks for the comments on the car, it is so much ready to be finished.
After seeing an episode of American Hotrod the other day and seeing them finish a car as fast as they did. I truly believe that they should show up and finish mine since everthing that would probably be needed to finish it 24 hrs. is in my garage or within 10 miles of my house.

A little more money to save and I will commit to the final pieces to finish it off. It is so hard to decide on some components that change every day in price,quality and just plain better design that commiting to them in a buy it as you go just doesn't keep it current and sometimes compatible.

I am going to do the headliner next so I don't have the glass in the way when I do it. I can now post pics so look for more to come !!!!

And of course I have BEER!!!

Jim Nilsen

[Stu Seitz]

Wow looks like I was really lucky, my screws came striat out and went in with no problem at all.

[JL8Jeff]

It sounds like you're stuck on the bolt that is tucked up inside the perch where you can't get a saw or cutoff wheel on it. I had to drill the head out on that bolt. What a PITA! Then it took me 2 more hours to get the old j-clips out of the rocker/frame area. When I went to do the other side, I broke the bolts loose, then I tried to turn them as fast as possible with the socket so they wouldn't have a chance to lock up and break the clip. It worked on 2 out of the 3. Yup, 30+ year old suspension parts suk to deal with.

[KacyZ28]

This thread will help a lot more people in the future if it's located in the SUSPENSION topic.

Damn Jim!
I see you are in Rockford. I was just passing thru there on my way to the land of cheese and beer. I would have loved to see your car. Coming along great based on your avatar.

when i posted this i came in from the garage and was trying to get an answer quick