Stuck/rusted screws in plastic roof pillar?

Posted By: Pale_Roader

Stuck/rusted screws in plastic roof pillar? - 05/07/12 01:03 AM

Figures, the ONE decent piece in the car's interior, is held in with stubborn screws. The last piece to come out so i can pull the headliner and start cleaning up, and i cant get them out. Tried smacking them with a hammer on the end ov a screwdriver, that usually jars things and fixes the stripped 'X' a bit, not this time.

Cant get any fluids to the actual screw, and might that mess up my plastic as well?

How do i get this thing off?

Thought ov slotting the screw head with a Dremel and flat-blading it out, but i dont have one anymore.

Posted By: ralphie361

Re: Stuck/rusted screws in plastic roof pillar? - 05/07/12 02:47 AM

You could very carefully drill the heads off with a bit the same size, or try a left handed drill bit, it might walk them out. Then you will just have studs left over to take out with vice grips after the plastic trim is out of the way.

Posted By: pinkduster

Re: Stuck/rusted screws in plastic roof pillar? - 05/07/12 03:08 AM

First of all, you should be using the best screw driver that you can get your hands on. A brand new one would be the best choice.

You've already tried tapping the screw driver with a hammer and that USUALLY works for stubborn screws. I've also found that if you try to actually tighten the screw, sometimes they will break free in that direction, then you can loosen the screw.

Posted By: mopowertim

Re: Stuck/rusted screws in plastic roof pillar? - 05/07/12 03:17 AM

If you can find an acess hole anywhere near the screw, use a piece of vacumn hose to snake into the back side of the screw , slide it over your red wd 40 tube and load it up from the back side... a good sharp screwdriver, and try different ones- sometimes one will grab for no reason where another won't and turn it. That or drill through the screw. The tightening trick works alot too.

Posted By: ScottSmith_Harms

Re: Stuck/rusted screws in plastic roof pillar? - 05/07/12 04:04 AM

These work REALLY well at getting stripped screws out Getzit

Posted By: Pale_Roader

Re: Stuck/rusted screws in plastic roof pillar? - 05/07/12 04:57 AM

Quote:

These work REALLY well at getting stripped screws out Getzit

Mothers Day gifts...??? You're the expert, but i cant see how that would help... haha

(linky no worky)

As for the drill, the only good one i have now is pretty big. The upper screw would be accessible, but not the lower. I do have a very nice electric die-grinder though, and i've ground heads off screws with that before. I was hoping there'd be an easier way. Gonna be sketchy though... that thing likes to skip around when its meeting head-on.

I also have crap for screwdrivers, though i use my best where i can. The screws are just oddly scaly with rust. The rest ov the int is pretty clean, but for some reason the chrome screw heads rusted, and pretty badly. The upper screw is completely stripped, and it took very little to do that. The lower one is still somewhat intact, but i cant access it with a good screwdriver... maybe if the windshield was out, but its not.

No access to worm any fluids behind either.

Like i've said many times before in other posts, with what i have to work with tools/space-wise, i really have no place tackling a project like this right now... but i'm desperate and need a car.

Posted By: Pale_Roader

Re: Stuck/rusted screws in plastic roof pillar? - 05/07/12 04:58 AM

By the way, this is a 70 Challenger if that helps visualize the problem.

Posted By: Pale_Roader

Re: Stuck/rusted screws in plastic roof pillar? - 05/08/12 08:13 AM

Well i had to die-grind the head off the accessible screw, and didn't end up butchering the pillar molding too bad... I cant have anything nice. I doubt there was another way, that sucker was IN there... welded. Even with the big vice grips it fought me to the last thread.

The hard to get one actually ended coming out with a screwdriver. Thanks to mopowertim for the tip... i tried 6 different screwdrivers and one ov my older uglier ones ended up grabbing it perfectly. Who woulda thought? Helps that the screw was still somewhat intact... the upper one was all rust.

So then ov course taking them off (verrrrrry carefully...) it was the one that unscrewed nicely and pulled off nicely that broke in my hands... cracks here, cracks there... Thats the price ov a clean desert body i guess... destroyed soft parts and brittle as hell plastics...

No rust surprises under anything though! a shocker. And after looking at that dent in the roof for 12 years i FINALLY got to pop it out. Hah!!!