Shock install half done- rear shock bolt stuck

[Harold Singh]

For some reason I thought the front would be the tough ones. They went just fine. The rear lower shock mounti bolt on both sides is completely frozen. I've been soaking it in penetrating oil and had a 200 ft lb air impact on it for a while! Is this unusual or what? I think these are likely original. The car was parked from 1976 until 2013 and I've been trying to do some of the neglected things as time permits.


Am I missing a trick or doing something wrong or are the lower rear shock bolts that frozen?

[Vic Skirmants]

You don't need to remove the bolts to change the shocks. Leave them alone,

[Harold Singh]

Wow I have missed something! I'll take another look. I just assumed the rear shocks were bolted on at the bottom? Any chance you could point me to what I'm missing?

[Harold Singh]

Lower bolt I'm referring to on the rear shock:

[Norm Miller]

Harold,

Disconnect the shock at the top.
I believe what Vic is saying is remove the nut, compress the shock and twist it back and forth and if it wont come off use force and perhaps heat.
It will likely leave the bushing rusted to the bolt.
Usually the bushing can be removed with heat and a chisel.
At this point the bolt can be removed or not, doesn't matter.

Norm

Crap, I just looked at the photo, If you can't get the nut off get a more powerful impact driver Or split it.
On occasion I have needed to borrow my neighbors 1020PSI 3/4 drive IR impact.
BUT, first I'd heat the nut cherry red and it will come off.

[Harold Singh]

Norm,

Sounds like you're saying that lower nut should come off?

[C J Murray]

Norm,

Sounds like you're saying that lower nut should come off?

Correct. Some years actually had studs instead of bolts. Usually a 2 or 3 foot 1/2" drive breaker bar with a 6 point socket will remove the nut. If not then get the nut glowing red with a torch and the nut will release when turned. If you bugger up the bolt you will have to get the end of the arm glowing red to remove it...most likely.

[Jeffrey Leeds]

And going back to another recent topic here on this Forum, start the process several days early by applying liberal amounts of Kroil penetrate several times to the nut and threads.

[Harold Singh]

I'll keep hitting it with the PB blaster and pick up a new torch. The 19mm socket actually got pretty warm trying to break it loose. The left side will spin if I'm not holding the opposite side. Really a pain in the bum trying to break these loose.
Never had this much trouble but never had a vehicle this old before. My oldest Porsche up until the 64 356 was a 79 SC and that was over 10 years ago when the car was only in its 20th year range.

[Jeffrey Leeds]

Harold, there are more effective penetrating oils than PB Blaster:

Penetrating oil  /  Average breaking load     
None             / 516 pounds       
WD-40           /  238  pounds     
PB Blaster       /  214  pounds   
Liquid Wrench  /  127  pounds   
Kano Kroil       /  106  pounds     
ATF-Acetone mix  /  53  pounds 

Get the Kroil penetrate or mix some Acetone and Automatic Transmission Fluid (or Marvel Mystery Oil) 50/50. Use it liberally for a couple of days of soaking, and go at it again.

[Harold Singh]

Good info! Thanks!

[Harold Singh]

Bam! Came right off with the right penetrating oil! Could have been the stuff I was soaking it with also? Done!

[Jeffrey Leeds]

Glad to hear it. So, what was the trick?

[Harold Singh]

Different penetrating oil. The lowest tq number I could find on the list was liquid wrench penetrating oil. I also got a longer 19 mm wrench so I had more leverage when holding the opposite side while the air impact gun was hitting it. I think that also helped. I also bought a new map gas torch and showed it to the stuck bolts, which likely just scared the rust out of it. Never had to use it.
Thanks!

[Harold Singh]

FYI the rear lower spacer was stuck in the old shock bushing so I did use the torch real quick to heat the metal spacers and yank it out with vice grips but the bolts avoided the torch.