I think I'm the first of a previous 2 owner 72 to remove the rear sway bar and completely clean, degrease, strip and repaint the lower A-arms, sway bar and cross member. I went on the cheap for now so I can drive it some and plan on chroming the 3/4" bar and buying cool billet brackets. I shot it with satin black, scrubbed the factory brackets down to shiny metal and clear coated them. Replaced the bushings and reinstalled the sway bar. After securing the A-arm brackets a started wrenching down the center cross member nuts with just easy ratcheting and no serious torque (I didn't lean on the ratchet. 2 of the 4 nuts got to the base of the bolts and just kept spinning. Now I'm panicked and tried to reverse them off but no luck. Putting pressure on the underside of the bracket as I tried to back off and remove those nuts didn't work either
I'm wondering WTF? Are they stripped just at the base? How did that happen if so and why can't I remove them? Has anyone heard of this before or have any clues how to get them off to see what the bolt looks like? It's obvious the bolts are part of a plate welded to the cross member so this should be interesting as far as a replacement or re-threading
Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks
Joe
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