Vitesse Rear Valances

[t-stag]

Just starting the restoration of my Vitesse MkII Convertible. MOT failure due to chassis corrosion, not surprising after 52 years! So time for a total strip down with body off chassis. The bottom bolt of a rear overrider just rotates. The bolts holding the rear side valances are rusted solid. Assume my only solution is to drill all the bolt heads off?

[Pete Lewis]

why do you need to remove the side valences ???

overrider bolts are common problems with some varied repairs , 

mine had been fixed with studs and wing nuts inside the boot 

you may grind the bolt heads off easier than drilling    its all down to access

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

4 hours ago, t-stag said:

Just starting the restoration of my Vitesse MkII Convertible. MOT failure due to chassis corrosion, not surprising after 52 years! So time for a total strip down with body off chassis. The bottom bolt of a rear overrider just rotates. The bolts holding the rear side valances are rusted solid. Assume my only solution is to drill all the bolt heads off?

With regards to the overrider it's hard to get access to do anything else; the nut is probably just rotating inside the cage. Grind the bolt head off and sort out the captive nut in the overrider as necessary but replace the bolt with a length of threaded rod, then you'll only ever have to unscrew the nut from inside the boot. 

[t-stag]

I need some sharper drills! The bottom overrider bolt will eventually drill out and yes the nut is rotating inside the cage. Good idea to replace it with a stud and wing nut, plus plenty of grease.

The overriders need to come off to gain access to the 2 fixings for the centre valance. The 2 side valances have 3 bolts inside the wing and nuts underneath which are almost inaccessible. More fun!

The valances all have surface rust and are probably saveable, so I don't want to damage them. Maybe easier to do when the whole rear section is off the chassis. Surprisingly all the valance fasteners are 10mm, not imperial, so I guess someone has already done this.

Thanks for the comments.