The body mounts on my 1970 El Camino show some wear, so I bought a new set of rubber mounts. Before I go any farther with this, I need some advice. I checked the other posts on this topic, but still have a few questions.

1. The GM "Factory Assembly Instruction Manual" pages 84 to 86 identifies 12 mounting points, six on each side. Working from the front, numbers are 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 along the main frame rails, with number 5 on the frame cross member near the rear axle.

By looking at the new body mount kit and the diagram in the Assembly Manual, my guess is that mounting points 2, 4, 6, and 7 all use the identical size and shape of rubber cushions. Bolts hold these cushions.
Mount points 3 and 5 seem to use a different, fatter cushion, without bolts to hold them in place.

To you who have done this before, does this sound correct? The reason I am confused is that the Assembly Manual uses different part numbers for the various rubber cushions. According to it, there are four different rubber cushion part numbers for the various mounting points. Maybe I bought the wrong kit??

2. Next question. Body mount bolts at points 4 and 7 on each side are not rusted tight. They turn with some encouragement. But points 2 and 6 on each side won't budge. And I can't get at the top of the bolts where the nuts fit on to put penetrating oil on them. Underneath, the washers and old cushions are in the way, blocking access. Any ideas how to put penetrating oil on these without cutting holes in the car?

3. It looks like one would have a real mess if a bolt broke. Or am I wrong? If worst came to worst, how would one remove a broken bolt with the car on the frame?

4. Some information I found said that one has to loosen off the front fenders and move them an inch or two away from the body to change the #2 (front) body mounts. It sounded as if those nuts aren't held in place in cages. Is this correct, or is there another way? (I assume that cages hold all the other nuts from falling out of place.)

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for the benefit of your experience!!
David

Originally posted by 70camino:
The body mounts on my 1970 El Camino show some wear, so I bought a new set of rubber mounts. Before I go any farther with this, I need some advice. I checked the other posts on this topic, but still have a few questions.

1. The GM "Factory Assembly Instruction Manual" pages 84 to 86 identifies 12 mounting points, six on each side. Working from the front, numbers are 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 along the main frame rails, with number 5 on the frame cross member near the rear axle.

By looking at the new body mount kit and the diagram in the Assembly Manual, my guess is that mounting points 2, 4, 6, and 7 all use the identical size and shape of rubber cushions. Bolts hold these cushions.
Mount points 3 and 5 seem to use a different, fatter cushion, without bolts to hold them in place.

To you who have done this before, does this sound correct? The reason I am confused is that the Assembly Manual uses different part numbers for the various rubber cushions. According to it, there are four different rubber cushion part numbers for the various mounting points. Maybe I bought the wrong kit??

are all the cushions in the new kit the same?

2. Next question. Body mount bolts at points 4 and 7 on each side are not rusted tight. They turn with some encouragement. But points 2 and 6 on each side won't budge. And I can't get at the top of the bolts where the nuts fit on to put penetrating oil on them. Underneath, the washers and old cushions are in the way, blocking access. Any ideas how to put penetrating oil on these without cutting holes in the car?

maybe drill a small hole in the floor above

3. It looks like one would have a real mess if a bolt broke. Or am I wrong? If worst came to worst, how would one remove a broken bolt with the car on the frame?

I cut a 3 sided trap door in the pan above the nut, hopefully I can fold it back down and weld it after I get the mount back in.

4. Some information I found said that one has to loosen off the front fenders and move them an inch or two away from the body to change the #2 (front) body mounts. It sounded as if those nuts aren't held in place in cages. Is this correct, or is there another way? (I assume that cages hold all the other nuts from falling out of place.)

Those two 1" square nuts are not captive so you have to have room to get an open end wrench on them. I had my front clip and engine removed and it was a little hard to do. (I used a crow foot wrench)

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for the benefit of your experience!!
David I'm sure other people can answer from more experience than I can since I haven't put the body back on the frame or even bought the kit yet.

I had another look at the body mount kit. It turns out that it has three types, not two.

--It includes 8 cushion sets of one type with the upper part of the cushion 2 1/2 inches in diameter and the lower removable portion about 2 inches in diameter. These have a metal sleeve through the larger piece and a metal washer molded onto the smaller piece.

--It also has 2 cushion sets where both the upper and lower parts are 2 inches in diameter. These have similar sleeves and washers to the others.

--It also has 4 all rubber cushions with a hole that goes only part way through the piece. These are about 2 3/8 inch in diameter.

Unfortunately, the kit has no instructions or part numbers to help me know if these are the right parts.

Any ideas if these are right and which parts go in which body mount spots?

Also, any other experience regarding the other questions in my first message? I guess I could take things apart without knowing anymore, but I'd rather tackle it with a bit more planning.

Thanks again!

You get to the nuts in position 2 by removing the rear bolts on the inner fender and cramming your hand in there using a 1" wrench to hold the top of the nut. It REALLY helps if you have an impact wrench to loosen the bolts. If you break the bolts, just use the bolts that came with you bushing kit. (It did come with new bolts didn't it??) Two of the bushing positions (#3 & #6??) don't have bolts, the holes in the frame & the body hold them in place. When you take the old ones out you'll see how it works.
Use a search through the site to check other posts on this subject, and be sure you search all of the forums, not just the body shop. Hope this helps.
BL

Thanks for the advice. Things definitely are looking up with the bolts in position number 2. As you suggested ARK68SS, all that was necessary to get at the nuts was to loosen off the inner fenders. Based on some of the other posts, it seemed that it would be necessary to loosen off the front clip. It only took about one-half hour to loosen off the inner fenders, which exposed nice rectangular factory access holes to the nuts. Great!! I'll let them soak in penetrating oil for a while.

That leaves the bolts in position 6 that won't budge. The inaccessible nuts in those are located in those square tapered boxes that come down from the body to the frame (sorry I don't know the name for them) I shot some penetrating oil in through small holes in the corners a few times -- hopefully it eventually will loosen things.

David

Drill a 1/8" or so hole in the rear face of the body mount (the square tapered sheet metal box) in-line with the bolt and start pumping your favorite penetrating oil in. A little dab of RTV will fill the hole afterwards. If all else fails (be patient!!) cut a access hole from above and get your propane torch down in there to heat up the threads. The fire from the penetrating oil will be fun but will go out. Hey, it's winter you may need the extra heat. ;) Turn down the power on your impact gun and BE PATIENT!!

Just thought I'd post an update on how changing the body mounts went. It took only about six hours from beginning to end to change the mounts. One of the farthest rear mounts did give trouble. It was the only one we tried an air gun on. Even though the gun was at a low setting, it spun the caged nut, which meant an hour or two of difficulty to look after the problem. Other than that, things went great. Thanks for your advice.
David