Are all the rubber body mount bushings in an Elky accessable without drilling holes in the bed? Thanks, Scott!s

are you talking about the cage nuts, or the bushings themselves?

as far as i know, they are just like chevelles, the body bushings are sandwiched bewteen the frame and the body... so to get them out, just losen the bolt in side the frame and then lift the body and slide out the bushing.

Only time you'd need to access from the body side is if the caged nut strips out...

reminds me that i need to replace mine. 25 years in the arizona heat has destroyed them...

What I am asking is , if i go to replace the bushings, are they all accessable on an Elky from the bottom side? I have heard you have to cut into the bed to remove them!?

You do not need to cut the bed. I did my 72 and had problems with two of the cage nuts. My impact gun (IR231) had the whole nut, bolt, and cage spinning. I cut the bolts with a sawzall and lifted the body out of the way. Once that was done, I cut an access hole in the "pedestal" where the cage was and took the nut and cage out. A torch took care of the cut bolt as far as removing it from the nut. I used the same nut and cage for reassembly and left the access holes. I may glue a patch over it and paint to match, no one will see it anyway.

Thanks for the help!

Scottysalesman, I just did my body mounts last month, do one side at a time,lot of pen/oils had to cut with a1 1/4" hole saw for the very rear ones /came in from the under side front, had fuel tank out made job easier ,once you cut out the hole you can load up the pen/oil use a thick washer as a wedge on the square cage nut to frame should come out ok,after new installed use the metal from hole saw mig in /grind smooth rustproof and your done.

Thanks, what do you mean by pen/oil? So welding is necessary? Damn!

Soak the bolts for long time, then do them one by one. Otherwise, aligning the body can be challenging.

reminds me that i need to replace mine. 25 years in the arizona heat has destroyed them...

I hear ya.... I put a new set in about 2 years ago as part of my body off. The car's not even finished and they are cracked!! I live in New Mexico.

On any of these A-bodys the problem is either broken body mount bolts or nuts twisting inside their cages. The latter is probably slightly more of a problem and more common than the former.

One solution is to avoid the issue entirely if at all possible. This is where soaking in penetrating oil for several days before attempting to remove the bolts comes in.

Solutions beyond that depend greatly upon which mount you are working with. Generally you will need to cut some kind of access hole to get to the backside of the bolt and convince it to come apart.

For the rear mounts I used a hole saw to cut a 1" hole into the back vertical area of the El Camino bed support channel. These holes are aligned directly with the body bolts and can access the bolts through the hole. For initial removal I had to use an air chisel and ultimately break the bolts. Then the air chisel was used to break the nut cages completly off. They and the bolt/nut remains were fished out. I now use nuts/lock washers/washers and a wrench through the hole. The holes are finished with metal snap in covers allowing future access.

The mounts just behind the rear wheels could be accessed by cutting a hole into the side of the pedestal.

The mounts just ahead of the rear wheels are real serious <expletive deleted> buggers. There is just about no way to access these from the top as they are right under the rear cab wall. If you went in through the smugglers box and worked at an angle you might be able to do it. My box is Line-X sealed so no joy that way. I had to cut an oval hole into the body support channel inside of the body mount and work a wrench up inside and over across and down. I use masking tape to hold the nut to the wrench while I get it started. Not fun, do not want to touch it ever again if I can help it, but workable.

The rest of the body mounts on an El Camino are open and accessible for wrench or socket. It helps to remove the inner fenderwells for access to the firewall mounts.

Thanks, what do you mean by pen/oil? So welding is necessary? Damn!

pen/oil = Penetrating oil

Welding is not necessary unless the bolt will not unscrew from the hidden nut. At that point to get the bolt out the body needs to be cut and then repaired by welding a patch over the hole you cut.

duh. I got it- penetrating oil! thanks all you guys!