david01130

I have a 65 mustang and my driver door is sticking out a little. I adjusted the hinges which helped a little but the biggest problem is on the door lock side not the hinge side. I know the lock mechanism on the actual door cant move but I believe the other part on the actual car can. All it is is 2 phillips head screws that are HUGE that need to come out but they are tight as ****. The highest phillips head I have is a no. 3 which is a little small but may work. Do I need to get a no. 4? I cant seem to find those anywhere either. but how the hell do I take this dang thing off. I tried a drill and a phillips bit but it like almost broke my drill. Any other suggestions?

zmetalmilitia

I couldn't get mine off either. I am restoring mine so I went a step further and just cut them off and ordered new ones. I would be in trouble if the car was finished and wanted to loosen those things up. They were on there. There is a nut that is on the back side, that has a peice of metal welded to the car holding the nut, so the nut doesn't fall off. Good luck getting that thing loose.

JMD

Get the biggest Phillips that will fit the screws really well, and strike the end of the screwdriver with a hammer repeatedly and aggressively,as you try to turn it. With a little luck, an extra set of hands,and a pair of pliers to help turn,they should come loose....

Avoiddestroying the head of the screwsor else you may have to drill the heads out. The screws are made out of some hard steel that will be hard to drill.... But in theworst case, once the heads are no longer under pressure they are usually reasonably easy to get out. In other words, if youneed to drill the heads off, chances are that you wont need to drill the whole bolt out.

Problems like this suck because everything works, it just does not fit right. (see bottom two lines of my signature )

anj33

long time lurker first time poster here... anyway, try an impact screwdriver here's one http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=37530 you smack it with a hammer and then it turns as it is pushed in. a little pb blaster or wd-40 couldn't hurt either.

mustangmatt63

You can try to take a #3 bit and put it in a set of Vice Grips and tap on the bit with a hammer as you try to turn it,that's how I got mine loose,the tapping sometimes loosens up the screw,If you have an impact Driver that you hit with a hammer thats even better!!Good Luck with it! Also you can try a torch to heat it up of course being careful not to burn the paint!Those are the only ways I know![8D]

[IMG]local://upfiles/72436/C5716723798542AF9A83A27E79AC86FE.jpg[/IMG]

david01130

the first part you said is exactly what I did but I couldnt quite get it. I already broke a flat head bit. and I somewhat stripped the bolt a little [:@]. I am about to give up on this ****. I am going to go try it again with a hammer. I just got this thing painted about a month ago and this is like the last thing I need to do to get it back together. I already chipped the paint below the door sill when I dropped a heavy bit adapter

67t5ponycoupe

Like anj33 said, the impact driver is the right tool for the job. spend 7 bucks and harbor freight and get the right tool. Works like a champ.

Tony R

I tried the impact hammer and I ended up using the largest philips bit I could find and welded it to the head of the screw and used a wrench.

BKW

Striker Plate Screws

378428-S7-8 / Flathead Locking Screw / 5/16" -18 x 3/4"

Fit: 1965/79 all Ford Passenger cars (except Fiesta)

RolandT3Speed

Bingo. Exactly what I did.