Need Help with Rusted Bolts


 
Pat G

Pat G

TVWBB Emerald Member
So I am rehabbing two fireboxes and the bolts that hold the end of the burners to the firebox are not cooperating. They have a little rust acting as thread-lock.

I am going to try some PB Blaster and also heat the area of the firebox that they are attached to.

Anyone have any other ideas? Thanks.
 
A friend gave me a SJS and the bolts holding the legs to the bowl were a "blob" of rust - you could barely tell they were wing nuts. I tried PB Blaster and let it sit for days - didn't do a thing. I wound up drilling through the bolt heads with the same size bit as the factory bolt size and that worked great. Installed new hardware and that was it!
 
You don't have to remove those bolts and if you try more than likely you will twist them off. The burner tubes are slotted and will slip out from under the bolts. I've done over a half dozen 1000s and silver Bs and never had to mess with the bolts. There may be a little gunk you will have to scrap away to get them out but don't try to remove the bolts.
 
Rich Dahl said:
You don't have to remove those bolts and if you try more than likely you will twist them off. The burner tubes are slotted and will slip out from under the bolts. I've done over a half dozen 1000s and silver Bs and never had to mess with the bolts. There may be a little gunk you will have to scrap away to get them out but don't try to remove the bolts.
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Thanks Rich. I was hoping you would chime in. On one box I was able to pull them out like you described. On the other one, which I am planning on using, I'm having some trouble. I'm going to try and heat up the area and see what happens. Fortunately I have an extra box to experiment with.
 
Pat G said:
So I am rehabbing two fireboxes and the bolts that hold the end of the burners to the firebox are not cooperating. They have a little rust acting as thread-lock.

I am going to try some PB Blaster and also heat the area of the firebox that they are attached to.
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Anyone have any other ideas? Thanks.
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I just did mine, and the grease tray rail bolts. The heads were getting nasty, i wire brushed mine off then used a propane torch to heat them until they were red, they all came out except one i tried without heat. Even the manifold thumb screws.

Everyone says leave them but personally I didn't want to leave already rusting screws so I decided to risk it. The one grease tray rail bolt that did snap, I used a punch to make a center dimple in it, then started slow with a small bit and worked up. I didn't have any drill wandering worth that center punched and going slow. But do it at your own risk.
 
Erik, please provide your address and I will ground ship both of them to you. J/K.

Thanks for letting me know how it worked out for you. Nice work.
 
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Pat G said:
Erik, please provide your address and will will ground ship both of them to you. J/K.

Thanks for letting me know how it worked out for you. Nice work.
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Haha like I said at your own risk. Mine were pretty rusty too, I didn't even try penetrating oil, just straight heat to the bolt head/surface. Used a small 1/4 ratchet to try and gently turn, if it didn't budge, more heat for longer period.
 
The problem with mine is the bolts don't seem to hold the ratchet. If I do this I'll probably be using a vise grip.
 
Rich Dahl said:
The burner tubes are slotted and will slip out from under the bolts..
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Rich, your are a wise man. After playing around with the stuck burners I was able to twist them off and clean around my "permanent" burner bolts.
 
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