I have been stuck on this 1979 rx7 brake job for a long time. I still can't figure out how to access the lower caliper bolt so I can remove the rotors. There is no wrench or socket thgat had enough clearance to get to it. Their is a 17mm bolt on the control arm thatvwpuld get it out of the way to access the caliper bolt but I can't access that one either. Well I can but I need a strong impact to take it off and it won't fit. There has to be someone else thgat has had this issue as well. Please someone help me thank you.

 

Can you use a wrench but grind the head thinner to fit? Just buy a cheap one to sacrifice and lever it with some pipe?

 

An offset wrench might work.

https://www.harborfreight.com/8-piec...set-32042.html

 

I have a snap-on set of offset wrenches and They do fit but they don't have enough leverage to break the bolts. I already tried a a flex socket on the control arm bolt with a breaker bar and it snapped my matco socket in half

 

You need to take the knuckle off and cut it with a cut off wheel or hack saw.

I'm not talking going hog wild, just enough to slip a box end wrench in there.


If you're not down with that modification you can loosen the two retaining bolts on the steering knuckle and twist the spindle slightly that should offer ample room to get an impact socket in there. I can't recall if that's how I did it originally or not... maybe I'm just going crazy.

At anyrate you'll have to remove those two bolts anyway.



OH I just read your last post. You need heat bubba. If you can't break it loose with force then stop using force. Use thermal expansion.


Heat it up with (fill in the blank), then cool it off with aerosol oil (aka wd-40 or pb blaster). Do this like 4 or 5 times. I'm talking cherry red then smoky oil steam. The oil cools off the metals rapidly (which expand and contract at different rates). The oil will also find its way into the threads of the stuck bolt and the boiling action of the oil will help loosen rust.

 

Do You mean to cut the medal around the bolt so I can slip a wrench in?

 

Yeah I didn't see till later that getting a grip on the bolt wasn't the problem.

Heat man... Oxycetaline or MAP or Carbon arc or even LP... HEAT!!!

 

I can get a grip on most of the bolt but not 100%. It slips off when I try to turn it.

 

Then liberate the spindle from the steerage knuckle. You should be able to get strait on it from there.

 

I have always used an angle grinder and ground down the raised section on the bracket mount to access that bolt. Its awful to get to honestly. I've had to use heat but most of the time it'll break free once you have enough clearance to get a good bite on it with the box end of a wrench.

 

I've always removed the one knucle bolt, loosened the other slightly, and then rotated it out of the way so a socket can access the caliper bracket.

You've got a lot of rust to contend with on that knuckle bolt; penetrating oil may work, or freezing the bolt with dry ice or freeze spray (which shrinks it), or both. Using heat in that area would be tricky, with rubber parts and the presurized strut tube so nearby.

 

Take all the advice so far. Heat, penetrating fluid, loosen spindle nut. Keep at it. Do cycles and let it sit for a few days and keep at it. It will come off.

 

This, over and over again until it works. Don't cut the bolt because you'll very much regret it when trying to find a replacement!

 

When me and my dad did this, we removed a bolt by it and then rotated the arm. We were pretty frustrated for a while until he suggested doing that. Im not sure if it messed with the car's alignment so do it at your own risk. Beter than cutting the bolt off

EDIT the bolt that's dead center in the third picture, remove it and then stick a screw driver in it and move it, DO NOT fully remove that, the screw driver is simply a guide.