old car fan Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 (edited) Trying to remove a rod cap bolt from a 1937,are you serious,fillister head screws? How do you remove these,and retorque these as well It has been in a pole barn since 75,low miles,,trying to put it back on the road . Edited December 21, 2015 by old car fan (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillacbuilder3738 Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Extremely sinple they come out from the top! Duh! I usually use a 3/8 drill bit and drill two holes in the top of the piston to gain access to top of bolt. Sometimes handy to have a pal hold the bottom with straight screw driver as they tend to spin with the nut! I learned this trick about a million caddy flat heads ago Good luck and let me know how this work for you!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted December 21, 2015 Author Share Posted December 21, 2015 (edited) Must have lost something,no nut,I know .Now what to do now without drilling a piston,crazy. Edited December 22, 2015 by old car fan (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimy Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 The good news is that only the 1937s used the slotted rod bolts. Suggest you replace them with otherwise-identical 7/16 hex-head bolts used 1938 thru 1948. Those MAY have been reproduced over the years. I've heard that Cadillac's intent was to force us to replace the rod bolts every time, and not re-use them. I've used 3/8-drive slotted-bit sockets (Craftsman) on a breaker bar to get them loose, then a 3/8-drive ratchet to finish the job. Obviously, you want the tightest full-depth fit possible, so buy two or three different sizes. For the replacement 7/16 hex head bolts, you will need a 6-point slim socket (Snap-On would be ideal) and be very careful not to apply force at any angle other than 90 degrees, or you'll split the socket like I've done several times. Good luck and please keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillacbuilder3738 Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 His method also works well. Easiest: fastest is decently drilling piston as they did this from factory. If you look closely you can see where they welded it and ground the two holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimy Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 I've only done a few Cad flatheads, not "millions," and I'm too cheap to replace pistons when I only need to inspect or replace bearing inserts. Those bolts shouldn't be that tight, so a snug fitting socket-mounted slotted bit will do the job quickly, relatively easily, and above all non-invasively. I owned Cad flatheads from 1968 to 2010 and never heard of doing it your way.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 still don't get it but the job is done.Can the rebuilder give a better pic or something,? Does not sound feasible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimy Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Until I see a scan of a factory shop manual page with his procedure, I'm suspecting that we've been visited by a creature who lives under a bridge.... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted December 23, 2015 Author Share Posted December 23, 2015 (edited) Thanks guys done. Edited December 26, 2015 by old car fan (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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