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Greetings, Extra long story short.... any ideas on how to free the nut/bolt circled? No vise grips nor channel locks will grip the blk topper it's noticeably flatter than the other 3.
Last edited by 92RS-HeritageEd; Aug 24, 2022 at 07:59 PM.
Reason: Resolved
Soak it with wd-40 and wait 1 hour and get a screwdriver and hit it with a hammer.
I got a little lost at the "get a screwdriver and hit it with a hammer." step. I've never done this before and surely can't afford to break the hatch glass.
Soak it with wd-40 and wait 1 hour and get a screwdriver and hit it with a hammer.
Tried it, got a grip on the topper but even with the strength of the Hulk... the nut still spins the whole bolt like the top of bolt is stripped out in the topper? Because the topper will be still while held while the nut/bolt is just spinning
Opt'ed against the nut buster, and with that came a blessing. On my way home from HFT, saw a gent outside under a truck wrenching. I always see this fellow out there, but never had the courage to stop and shoot the ish. Today, set all pride aside and pulled right up, apologized and introduced myself. Explained my crisis and he said "I'm sure we can get that loose, just give me $20 bucks"... needless to say I sped to the store for cash. Circled back, parked. He said "I thought you were BS'n" I replied and said you didn't hear the desperation in my voice lol I can't close my hatch LOL.
The outcome... $30 later... the SOB is LOOSE, now I can actually try the alignment!
So the hatch alignment failed, my bother & a mobile mechanic I trust came by and all efforts failed. The trip to the Bodyshop on the other hand was a SUCCESS. No the alignment wasn't a success and neither was elongating the bolt holes but modifying the dang striker thing was a 100% WIN. They heated and beat this bad boy at my request, the loop moved forward, and the hatch closed! They had me open it again and this time had me close it and it closed! Best of all, (Insert Man Tear of joy) they did it FREE of charge, and tried sending me on my way, I had to force a $20 tip on them. So I got home, took it off to give it a good wire brushing & a fresh coat of rust-oleum. Now I can work on putting all my plastic trim pieces back.
at the "get a screwdriver and hit it with a hammer." step. I've never done this before and surely can't afford to break the hatch glass. 
