How much of a pita are the rear trailing arm mounts ti remove?

[g2k]

It's welding (mot) time and my inner sills, in front of the rear wheels where the handbrake cable attaches have disintegrated; both sides. It seems like the only way to gain decent access is to remove the trailing arm mounts; 4 bolts each. How much resistance are these likely to put up towards being removed, does anyone have any experience? The heads themselves are also pretty manky, so I'll probably replace them for reinstallation. If anyone knows, what are their exact specs?

 

[trublustu]

They come out quite easily (you dont even need to remove the beam)
WD40 is your friend...

 

[tuonokid]

As Stu says they should come out easily but it helps on old cars if you use hex (6 sides) rather than bi-hex sockets as you're less likely to round them off. When you put the beam back on use the witness marks (where the shank of the bolt rubs on the axle bracket) to make sure the axle is back in the right place as there is some adjustability in the beam mounts and you could put the beam back in off square.
Barry

 

[g2k]

Ok, that's a relief, finally some good news. I'll post pics of the repair(s) as i do them. Time to see how deep the rot rabbit hole goes here.

 

[tuonokid]

Are you doing your own welding?

 

[XAF]

Prepare to have you wallet emptied if you go for new bolts as they are over £5 per bolt!

If you need a set of reasonable used ones, give me a shout!

 

[g2k]

tuonkid: yes, I welded up the inner wheel arch about 11 months ago. I'll be able to justify putting a pit in my garage since then.

XAF: I might take you up on that offer, thanks.

 

[tuonokid]

It's good that you've already done the the inner arch as you've put some strength back in. The hardest bit as you'll find now is to find somewhere to support your car for taking off the rear beam. You can't really use the sills unless you've had new ones and also middle sills or middle sill repairs as they will just bend under the weight of the car. The only place left is to the front of the rear beam mount, also in front of the handbrake cable clip on the chassis rail just before it goes onto the floor pan. I used a flat topped axle stand on this location to support my car when I took off the beam but I also used piers of bricks with a book on top under the sills just in case the axle stands failed or moved.
Barry

 

[g2k]

Thought I ought to update everyone here. Thanks for the advice. Got the bolts off and supported the car without issues: 15x15mm pieces of wood about 30cm long on top of normal axle stands just inside the sill flange half way down. The real pita was finding good metal to weld to. Still, it's done, MOTed for another year, but it's getting to the stage where I'm going to have to think about letting go :-( The state of the underside and sills was truly shocking. I repaired 30cm in on each outer sill and could've gone further. The chassis is also looking bad. Real shame. If it does get to this stage, would like to send it off in a way that keeps others on the road.