Well I got the sheet metal off of the captive nut and out of the frame. There is still 3/8" of thread on the bolt sticking out of the nut. Pretty sure I can cut the nut with a diamond burr in my Fordom tool and/or a 1/4" cold chisel.

It's been soaking in penetrating oil all evening and that may help.

Thanks for the heads up on the replacement nuts. The one bolt that did come out will not completely thru the new nut. The nut is deformed on one end to hold it in the sheet metal "wings." Going to have to run a tap thru them to free things up.

Again, thank you for you input.

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1988 300SE 83K+
1991 350SDL 283K+