Rusted door hinges screws solution ?

frenchy dehoux

Well-known member
I need to remove the screws that are holding the hinges on the doors. What is the best penetrating liquid that will do the job. I was told a mix of acetone with something else. What is everyone experience with these issues and what are you using to loosen up these rusted screws or bolts.

Thanks
Frenchy
 
I used an old fashioned impact driver recently with good results. Sam Strube over on the hamb came up with a super device which has a screwdriver tip and a lever to turn it attached to an air chisel shank. Let 'er rip and start turning. People have copied the tool and stated it never fails.

Your results may vary.

Mart.
 
If the car is original, the nut plates are anchored in wood so I wouldn't go crazy with an air chisel screw extractor. I also wouldn't go crazy shooting a lot of liquid wrench in there. Try one of these new impact drivers first, they are the greatest new tool around and are a lot more gentile than the air chisel tool, as I have one of those also. Just my two cents, good luck
 
Years ago my grandfather gave me a ratcheting devise called a brace & bit . He said it was used to drill holes in 8 x 8 timbers when they built hay barns. wooden pegs were then driven into the drilled holes to hold them together. anyway, I never used the big wood drills, but found a screw driver bit to fit it. I used ATF& acetone in a squirt oil can. I then put the big wooden knob against my stomach and pushed with all my might and started turning out the screw. The mechanical advantage of the brace & bit was much greater than any screwdriver and pushing in kept the bit in the slot. The ratcheting option let me work the hinge screw back and forth . the whole secret is not allowing the bit to chew up the slot on the screw head when backing it out. sometimes a torch to heat the surrounding metal from the backside of the lower doorpost will help, But the brace & bit was the key. These can still be found at most flea markets, usually for a few bucks and the screwdriver bit was purchased from sears (craftsman) still have it, and works better than impact drivers. Hope this helps.
 
Thank you True Blue, I have a brace & bit & never thought of using it that way, it hangs on the wall with some other antique wood working tools that I have collecting dust.
Gary.
 
Years ago my grandfather gave me a ratcheting device called a brace & bit. He said it was used to bore holes in 8 x 8 timbers when they built hay barns. wooden pegs were then driven into the drilled holes to sucure them together. Anyway, I never used the drills, but found a screwdriver bit for it. I first lubed the screws with ATF & acetone mix in a squirt oil can. Then I put the big wooden knob against my stomach and pushed with all my might.then used the brace to start loosening the screw. the brace provided more mechanical advantage than any screwdriver. the ratchet feature allowed me to go back and forth.the trick is to keep the bit in the slot so it doesn't chew up the screw head as you are backing the screw out. Some heat on the backside of the lower hinge also helps on the real stubborn ones. But the key is the brace & bit. These can still be found at flea markets, usually for a few bucks. I got the screwdriver bit from Sears (caftsman) This works way better than impact drivers that can distort the door post metal. I still have this setup and both the ATF & acetone and brace & bit is the best way I have found to solve this problem. Hope this helps.
 
In the aviation industry, especially big airplanes, the old favorite was a speed wrench (a lot like a rachet brace except no rachet) with a screw bit the correct size. You can apply more push and torque to remove the hundreds of screws that have to come out for inspections. Now days most folks use and electric screw gun with the adjustable torque clutch. Most of these screw guns have an impact hammering effect during the start up phase but you have to have the correct or best fitting bit for each type and size of screw or you will quickly destroy the head.

I've had many that were so rusted in I had no choice but to drill them out and run a tap through to clean the threads out. This last ditch action takes some skill and some good drill bits & taps to accomplish it successfully. A person has to be prepared for all eventualities in the resto game including replacing the nut plate or threaded fastening that might get destroyed in this process.
 
If all else fails....Drill it out to the appropriate size determined by HELICOIL. Then use the Helicoil insert..
Good luck
Bruce/CT
 
Ive removed a lot of rusty bolts and screws
I use localized heat if the back side is not in wood
quench it with cold water
do this several times and it will come loose
if the back side is really rusty,(sometimes the threads are gone)
cut the head off and use a dremel and cut a slot in where the head was,and using a screwdriver screw it IN

very few screws/nuts have failed this process
 
I had the rusty hinge screw issues with several model A Fords. Not having any wood around the screw to worry about, I use the oxy/act torch turn the screws to cherry red. The makes them oversized and it also burns the rust off of them. Let them cool and they will usually unscew when they are cold. It is a good idea when the screws are cooled and before they are unscrewed, to put some penetrating oil on them to help prevent pulling a thread and jamming them up for good. When they are cold, they are now loose in their threads. It that failed, go through the heat and cool cycle and try again. I have had such good luck with the heat that over 90 percent of the time I have reused the screws again.
 
I just found some photos of some smaller screws i remove earlier this year
every one came out with no damage to the body
this one i used a vice grip on the BACK side and screwed it out from the back
this is preferable if you have access as sometimes the exposed portion in the back may damage the threads when its unscrewed out
 

Attachments

  • MVC-003S.JPG
    MVC-003S.JPG
    43.3 KB · Views: 13
  • MVC-005S.JPG
    MVC-005S.JPG
    41.4 KB · Views: 12
  • MVC-006S.JPG
    MVC-006S.JPG
    31.9 KB · Views: 13
  • MVC-007S.JPG
    MVC-007S.JPG
    45.5 KB · Views: 13
heres another way to remove rusted broken off screws
i cut a slot in the broken off part ,that will be used by a screwdriver
heat it and screw it IN
this works really good
sometimes it takes several heatings,but it has always worked for me
 

Attachments

  • MVC-008S.JPG
    MVC-008S.JPG
    41.8 KB · Views: 9
  • MVC-009S.JPG
    MVC-009S.JPG
    36 KB · Views: 8
  • MVC-010S.JPG
    MVC-010S.JPG
    32.5 KB · Views: 10
  • MVC-011S.JPG
    MVC-011S.JPG
    36.7 KB · Views: 8
  • MVC-013S.JPG
    MVC-013S.JPG
    27.5 KB · Views: 10
Back
Top