"David" <ad695@tcnet.org> wrote
> I hate to tell you this, but you probably don't have the
> bolts loose. I just went through the same process on my
> '91 CRX SI. The problem is the bolts fit through a steel
> sleeve in the middle of the rubber bushing at the end of
> the control arm. The sleeve/bolt interface is supposed to
> be greased "for life" but it isn't so they rust together
> after many years. When you put enough torque on the bolt,
> you shear the sleeve away from the rubber. You can push
> the sleeve out of the bushing as long as the threads on
> the bolt push against the threads on the nut then you're
> stuck.

David is correct. My 91 Civic (176k miles) had the classic
frozen bolt-to-bushing-sleeve problem. After further
research on the net, I found this is endemic to several
other makes of automobiles.

Fortunately, one thing was something in common to all the
success stories: Use of an air die grinder or an air angle
grinder.

PB Blaster is not enough. Nor is heat, by all reports. A few
years ago, I tried a cheap-o electric drill with a grinding
stone ( = low RPM, low power) with my rear suspension, and
it was hell.

So get the air die grinder or air angle grinder. The steps I
took below did not take more than a few hours. I went very
slowly, since it's been many years since I had any type of
air grinder in my hand. Also, the space is tight. I tried to
use the grinder as little as possible, to minimize risk to
life, limb, and property.

Steps for removing a front inbd lower arm suspension bolt
frozen to its bushing sleeve:

-- Spray with PB Blaster all exposed threads (nut and bolt).
Dunno if this really helps, but it couldn't hurt.

-- With a 1/4-inch shank arbor designed for wheels, affix a
1/16-inch thick, 3-inch diameter "cutoff blade" (= cutoff
wheel) to an air die grinder. I bought the cutoff wheel and
arbor as a set from Lowe's for $6. Also pick up for $2 some
air tool oil. I bought the air die grinder for $13 at
Checker Auto Parts. In other words, it is about as cheap as
they make. Make sure the air die grinder RPM rating is lower
than the wheel rating. Grinding wheels, for one, are known
to explode if rotated higher than their rating. (Thanks to
rec.autos.tech for many of these warnings.)

-- Have safety glasses, face covering, and leather gloves
handy. If in an enclosed space, wear a dust mask. Don these
when
using the air die grinder.

-- Drive the front of the car onto rhino ramps to give you
enough space to work.

-- Do not work beneath a hot engine. For one thing, sparks
will fly while cutting. A risk of fire exists.

-- Because the bolt typically seizes to the inner sleeve of
the bushing, one can unscrew the bolt only until its threads
no longer engage with the (fixed) nut. Then the bushing
inner sleeve becomes exposed. Unscrew the bolt until about
1/2 inch of bushing is exposed. If years have passed since
the bolts were removed, this will take some effort. I did
this a few days in advance, just to break the bolt free of
any seizing in the nut.

-- With the cutoff wheel, leather gloves, and serious face
protection (face mask), grind in maybe three steps until the
sleeve is penetrated and the bolt is exposed.The sleeve is
1/8-inch thick, so it's not that much grinding. I think this
took only about two minutes of altogether. Sparks fly, of
course. I protected the front wheel with blocks of wood. A
piece of cutoff wheel flying off and penetrating the tire
would be curtains for you.

-- Arguably at this point you might want to drive the car
down the ramps and put the front side on a jackstand. The
ramps seem more secure to me for heavy torquing.

-- Continue grinding until you're one-third to a half way
through the bolt. Stop grinding now and then and tap the
exposed bolt hard via the groove you've cut in the sleeve.
Tap on both ends. Apply a wrench and advance (tighten) the
bolt back into the nut a couple of times. Eventually by
looking into the new groove in the sleeve, I could see the
bolt was moving relative to the sleeve. At some point I
could hear little popping noises, too, indicating the bolt
was breaking free of the bushing sleeve.

-- Within a half hour or so, the bolt was free of the
bushing.

-- To remove the bolt fully, support the inbd end of the
control arm with a jack. I managed to strip the threads of
the bolt while removing it, because I didn't line things up
carefully. I also knew I had a spare bolt and spare sleeve.

-- Reinserting a new bolt should be done with the front side
on a jackstand. This allows adjustment of the wheel
position, which in turn allows easier adjustment of the
control arm position. Use a crowbar on top of the control
arm. Insert a screwdriver into the bolt hole and bushing to
help things along as needed. One can pull down on the
control bar and pry with the crowbar and screwdriver until
the bolt can be inserted into the bushing again. It's a
little tricky but not aggravatingly so, if one has done it a
few times.

I chose not to cut all the way through the sleeve and bolt,
because I felt overall removal would be easier with an
intact bolt. The bolt head in particular permits one to
maneuver the other end of the bolt, but of course only as
long as they're still attached.

 

I spoke too soon. While the pass. side bolt came free pretty
easily, the driver's side today was hell. After hours of
failure, I ended up purchasing a super-skinny 1/32-inch
cutoff wheel (rated 18,000 RPM, so I took a risk :-( ) ,
cut off the bolt head and took another full cut at the bolt
end side, so the control arm inbd end would swing relatively
free. I extracted the inner sleeve, with bolt still
attached, with a C-clamp.

Subsequently I tried to pound the bolt out of the sleeve at
my workbench. That sucker isn't moving no way no how...

I threw a spare bolt and sleeve into the control arm and
called it a day.

The bracket that supports the bolt is all banged up but in
my estimation still quite functional.

New bushings are supposed to arrive in the mail tomorrow
from Kingmotorspors.

I'll say this: Those 1/32-inch cutoff wheels do nearly cut
high strength steel like butter.

 

I spoke too soon. While the pass. side bolt came free pretty
easily, the driver's side today was hell. After hours of
failure, I ended up purchasing a super-skinny 1/32-inch
cutoff wheel (rated 18,000 RPM, so I took a risk :-( ) ,
cut off the bolt head and took another full cut at the bolt
end side, so the control arm inbd end would swing relatively
free. I extracted the inner sleeve, with bolt still
attached, with a C-clamp.

Subsequently I tried to pound the bolt out of the sleeve at
my workbench. That sucker isn't moving no way no how...

I threw a spare bolt and sleeve into the control arm and
called it a day.

The bracket that supports the bolt is all banged up but in
my estimation still quite functional.

New bushings are supposed to arrive in the mail tomorrow
from Kingmotorspors.

I'll say this: Those 1/32-inch cutoff wheels do nearly cut
high strength steel like butter.

 

I spoke too soon. While the pass. side bolt came free pretty
easily, the driver's side today was hell. After hours of
failure, I ended up purchasing a super-skinny 1/32-inch
cutoff wheel (rated 18,000 RPM, so I took a risk :-( ) ,
cut off the bolt head and took another full cut at the bolt
end side, so the control arm inbd end would swing relatively
free. I extracted the inner sleeve, with bolt still
attached, with a C-clamp.

Subsequently I tried to pound the bolt out of the sleeve at
my workbench. That sucker isn't moving no way no how...

I threw a spare bolt and sleeve into the control arm and
called it a day.

The bracket that supports the bolt is all banged up but in
my estimation still quite functional.

New bushings are supposed to arrive in the mail tomorrow
from Kingmotorspors.

I'll say this: Those 1/32-inch cutoff wheels do nearly cut
high strength steel like butter.