Hi everyone, I recently purchased a new repro battery tray from Year One for my 71 Skylark. The tray looks identical to the original one in the car which is good. However, I am having a major problem trying to get the old battery tray out of the car. The bolts holding the old tray in place will not budge and they have somewhat corroded from all exposure to battery acid so they are not even the same size heads - in fact, most do not have good heads for a rachet socket any more. Should I try drilling through the bolts to remove them? My dad said try WD-40 and I did but I think that I could be spraying those bolts till the cows come home and they still wouldn't budge. Any advice would be most appreciated! Chris
Hello Chris, Sounds like your battery tray & inner fender have fused into a rusty union from from the battery acid over the years.Bolt heads sound like they are rusted away to.It may be very difficult if not impossible to seperate them when they get in this kind of shape. I have got them apart when they get like this but i had the whole front clip off so it was easier to get at the problem. You might be able to clamp some vise-grips on the rusty bolt heads real tight & be able to hold & turn them that way.If you had another person to help that would be great to. Sounds like the inner fender panel under the tray is ready for patching along with your core support,it's all become fused together by rust. You could possibly grind down or cut out your old tray some way & drill some new holes to mount the new tray.That would suffice until your are ready to pull the front clip off & patch the rusted away area's. Your idea of drilling out the bolts might be the best way to go in this situation as well. Just a few idea's don't know if that was much help or not. Good luck Jeff
If you apply too much force on the bolt, your going to rip out the welded nuts on the core support. Get a "plumber's torch". Its basically an acetelene tank with no O2. Its the best tool I have in my shop. Try and get a metric socket to fit snugly on the bolt. Maybe hammer one on. Heat the nut on the radiator core support till it gets red. As soon as its red, have a buddy up top start applying torque to the bolt. Heat works wonders with frozen bolts. Good luck and be careful Jason
