### Loosening Seized Nuts and Bolts

Occasionally, nuts and bolts that are rusted resist the ministrations of mere mortals and refuse to budge. Most of the time, penetrating oil or a sharp rap with a hammer will loosen stubborn nuts.

Another method, used in extreme cases, is to saw away two sides of the nut with a hacksaw. The idea is to weaken the nut as much as possible by sawing away two sides as close to the bolt as possible without actually damaging the bolt threads. A wrench will usually remove the remaining portion of the nut. Another option to this method is a special tool called a nutcracker. This tool often resembles a "C"-clamp with a chisel tip (other versions of this tool may be completely round with a tip at the opposite end of the threaded portion). Tightening this tool against the nut splits the nut and it then can be easily removed with a wrench.

Fig. 15: "C"-clamp type nut cracker (top) and impact driver (bottom) can be used to remove stubborn nuts and bolts