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Loktite question

Track T-4

Track T-4

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Perhaps a silly question but is there any kind of product that will un-do Loctite? I have two screws I'm trying to remove that are very difficult to access plus the heads are slotted and it's tight for a wrench making removal even more difficult. It's also in a spot were I can't grind the heads off or cut the nuts. I tried PB Blaster to no avail. I'm guessing the previous owner used Loctite or a similar product on the screws and I'm hoping there is something I can apply to resolve it.

An extremely frustrating holdup on getting some projects done.
 
I should have mentioned it is right by the gas tank so flame/heat is not a possibility and these screws must br removed to pull the gas tank. Also need to be careful of the paint.
 
Are the screw and nut stainless? If so, they may be galled together for the lack of using any Never-Seez. There is no solvent in that case.

Jim
 
Can you use a soldering gun/iron? Heat the head and/or nut up for a while?
 
You might do some good with acetone. It is fast evaporating, so you might want to add a little auto trans fluid. If you can get it to puddle where it can migrate into the threads, it will help. While they are wet if you can induce some impact, like a strike on the head of the screw or a rivet gun to the surrounding area, it will help. Heat is your best choice if safe.
 
If all else fails , drill the heads off , then you can deal w/ the situation after the part is removed .
dave
 
Go to Radio Shack and buy a pencil torch which means the flame is so concentrated as to not bother anything around it. Can cover up Fuel tank with a wet towel. Does not take much heat to soften thread lockers of any strength.
 
LOL. Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried PB Blaster and Acetone. The screws and nuts are not stainless. One of the biggest problems is you can't get a direct set on the slotted screw because it is in an offset position about four inches, tried an offset screwdriver and a shorty but just can't get a grip and no direct access with a drill. The screw is inserted from the bottom and the nuts are on top - of course the PO did not use washers so the nuts are partially sunken in the fiberglass. It's really kind of hard to explain just how tough access is to these screws.

My ultimate goal is to take the body off the chassis so I can either add a sender and vent to the gas tank or replace the tank with one that has the sender and a vent installed (I'll be contacting RPM soon). My T has custom steel rolled pans all around bolted to the bottom edges of the body and a partial louvered belly pan. The rolled pans must be uninstalled to lift the body and the screws that hold the pans to the body are up above the side of the framerails and difficult to access. I've removed all the screws and have the last TWO holding me up. They are the worst of them all for access and tightness and they are right next to the gas tank and all the connections. I probably have several hours just futzing with these two screws. :mad:

So I've decided that tomorrow I'm draining the gas out of the tank, rinsing a few times with a hose, filling the tank with water, and getting all the hoses and potental fumes away from the area. Then I'll attempt to get the dremel in there and grind the heads of these &%#$*&#@ screws. If that doesn't work it's time for a few sticks of dynamite. :devilish:
 
Can you get a high-wattage soldering gun onto the head of those screws? You'll need to get them really hot, but heat will loosen the Loctite.

Jack
 
2old2fast said:
Seriously ???? An open flame near a gas tank??? Have you lost your mind ???:eek::eek:
dave
Click to expand...
You do realize that liquid gasoline cannot burn, right? It is the mixture of available oxygen and gasoline vapors that are flammable, not the actual liquid itself. Set up a fan to drive away any accumulated vapors and there is nothing there to burn. Filling the tank with gasoline would be as safe as filling it with water, just so long as there are no evaporated vapors in the surrounding air. So safe, in fact, that would be the way I would do it in Track T-4's case. Fill the tank, put a fan under the car to prevent vapors from accumulating and then grinding to his heart's content. Or, as was suggested, using a pencil torch with a concentrated flame.

Ever stop to think how an overly rich cylinder can douse a spark plug and cause a misfire, rather than allowing the plug to ignite? Hmmmm?

Based on that bit of knowledge, rather than FUD, I am going to have to say @T-Test has not lost his mind.

Actually, this thread seems to be more of a tutorial on how fastener placement should be engineered into a vehicle's construction, rather than anything else. I'm betting Track T-4 is going to re-think things before he starts nailing everything back together. :thumbsup:
 
What I do realize is that I'm smart enough & experienced enough, & not foolish enough to take the chance of using an open flame next to , or in the vicinity of , a tank full of flammable liquid.
dave
 
Mike,
You are right on the reengineering aspect. I'm guessing that is a good part of going through any previously owned build, it's certainly been the case on this one.

The best I can tell, this car was built sometime around 1999 or earlier and apparently has been through more than one owner. When I got the car the trans cooler was lying loose in the nose, the carpet was an oily mess, trans seals puked when first delivered, no fuse box, gauges weren't working and alot had been mickey-moused over the years. I redid alot over the 2 years from 2008-2010 and then picked up a Street Rodder top 10 at the 2010 Syracuse Nationals which we felt pretty good about. The original gauges did not include a gas gauge so when I installed new gauges one was included. But the original build did not put a sender in the gas tank so I've always dealt with the PITA of not knowing the gas level - gas overflowing on the paint, ran out of gas twice, etc. (the bend in the filler doesn't allow using the "stick" method). Since there is no trunk lid, just about everything has to be taken apart and removed to get the body off and get at the gas tank including disassembling some suspension. And that's the reason for this latest project, unfortunately it should be simple but it's not. It's just kind of funny that these screws have held me up but everything goes back together re-thinked and improved. Part of the fun. :thumbsup:
 
You do realize that liquid gasoline cannot burn, right? It is the mixture of available oxygen and gasoline vapors that are flammable, not the actual liquid itself. Set up a fan to drive away any accumulated vapors and there is nothing there to burn. Filling the tank with gasoline would be as safe as filling it with water, just so long as there are no evaporated vapors in the surrounding air. So safe, in fact, that would be the way I would do it in Track T-4's case. Fill the tank, put a fan under the car to prevent vapors from accumulating and then grinding to his heart's content. Or, as was suggested, using a pencil torch with a concentrated flame.



I showed my Auto Tech teacher in High School something I learned on the farm. Took a bean can full of gasoline and threw a lit cigarette into it and it went out. Poured all the gas out of the can, took a lit cigarette and held it next to the can and blew on it. BIG FLAME!! Have worked on autos for more than 36 years and never had a fire from a fuel tank, plastic or metal, while welding or cutting over, under or beside one. Rode one out the shop door one day while soldering up a hole in one with a loggerhead torch, if you're old enough to remember. Cleaned at the radiator shop and full of water as possible, still had a big huff of flame out the neck. Scared the bejesus out of me.

Gasoline lasts a long time in confined spaces. Have known of people dying from cutting gas tanks from cars sitting in the woods for 30/40 years and were bone dry of liquid, but the fumes remained.
Once saw a tanker truck laying on it's side and leaking gas, and a welder asked if he could help. Cops said yes and cleared the area for a half mile. He popped a hole higher up the tank from the running gas and he tigged the hole while fuel was running out and a big fan blowing the fumes away from the hole. Saved losing 5000 gals. of gas and a big boom of the neighborhood. Sent the oil company a bill for 500.00 dollars for road call and labor. Sounds like a lie but it is the truth.
 
2old2fast said:
What I do realize is that I'm smart enough & experienced enough, & not foolish enough to take the chance of using an open flame next to , or in the vicinity of , a tank full of flammable liquid.
dave
Click to expand...
Sorry, Dave, but your explanation for how the rest of us are not smart enough, experienced enough and are foolish enough fails, by means of your own definition of gasoline being a flammable liquid. That is incorrect. Which is the point I was trying to make, in my first post. You see, I am smart enough enough to know liquid gasoline is not flammable. I am experienced enough to know liquid gasoline is not flammable. I am not foolish enough to think liquid gasoline is flammable.

Once again, gasoline is not a flammable liquid, only the vapors evaporating into the air and mixing with available oxygen are flammable. Gasoline, in liquid form, displaces air. By displacing air, liquid gasoline denies the existence of fire, by displacing one of the required components for fire, that being oxygen. Remember the old fire triangle you learned in grade school, where you had to have a fuel, you had to have a heat source and you had to have oxygen to create fire? Take away any of those three components and there is no way for a fire to be started or sustained.

I get your point, I really do. You are frightened at the aspect of having any source of heat near a gasoline tank. Fair enough. Safety should always be of paramount importance. But tell me, what would have been your reaction, had I replied to you by saying, " Seriously??? You think gasoline is flammable??? Have you lost your mind??? :eek::eek:" There is a finer point here, Dave. Please take the time to understand it, as my explanations of these things are generally not well-received.

@T-Test , you are absolutely correct. A tank that is not completely filled with water is a bigger hazard than a tank completely filled with gasoline. Rule #1 with a water-filled tank is to move the torch all around the tank, because there is almost always a fuel vapor pocket that is going to flash up. And yes, I've witnessed several gas tanks repaired in the very manner you describe. No burn scars here.
 
If the tank was drained, couldn't you fill it with argon to prevent any chance of danger. That is what I have done to repair motorcycle tanks that have developed leaks. By the way, I agree with Mike. I would do the same thing if it were mine. I would keep the tank full, and would wrap a wet blanket over it. That would just make me feel better. I would not drain, flush, flush and fill with water. Been there, done that, and got the crap scared out of me. Lucky for me it was just a scare, and a ballooned tank.
Lee
 
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