Bought my first car this week!

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

I would have no problem to reuse that nut and bolt. Here's my procedure for making old junk like that useful.

1. Spray it with seafoam "deep creep" and let it soak in

You were right. I found another wrench that could hold the bolt head, oiled the nut, removed it, cleaned the oiled threads with a rag, twisted the nut on and off a few times, repeat, and voila it is about as smooth as a new nut and bolt now!
I'll might still get a new nut since I rounded the head a bit working on it.

Thanks for the motivation/advice.

[maxhifi]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

You were right. I found another wrench that could hold the bolt head, oiled the nut, removed it, cleaned the oiled threads with a rag, twisted the nut on and off a few times, repeat, and voila it is about as smooth as a new nut and bolt now!
I'll might still get a new nut since I rounded the head a bit working on it.

Thanks for the motivation/advice.

Cool. It really did look OK to me, now in the future buy an aerosol can of "penetrating oil", and spray down whatever rusty bolts you want to loosen, and let it soak for a while. Some (exhaust manifold bolts for example) have been so bad, I have sprayed them once a day for a week before getting them off with reasonable force. I find that if the rust has started to swell, or if there's a lot of dirt on the bolt, the wire brush comes in handy.