THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

Prepping my 712K for painting, actually Plastidiping. Started unscrewing my rub rails and about half of them are just spinning. What are some methods I should try to remove them?

Had that problem on a couple of screws. Got them to screw out by
putting a wedge between the rail and the body with first a putty
knife then building up to a chisel.

If that doesn't work then as a last resort drill the screw head off.
Once the rail is off then you can you have more access to the
screw shank and nut-cert collar to remove or drill out. They are
indeed a big PITA when they "spin".

I agree with Ron but I had trouble drilling the spinning screw heads. Since I was replacing the rub rails, I found it easier to drill through the rail at an angle to sever the screw shank. I then had to drill at the nutserts. Afterward T nuts were welded in place. They won't spin.

Interesting alternative, side drilling. You could also try a Dremel with a Diamond bit.
Many a time I had to grind a head off. Here's a set of Diamond bits from HF that has
gotten a lot of use form me. It's slow going but it goes.
https://www.harborfreight.com/50-pc-dia ... 69665.html

I feel really lucky now that all of mine came off without issue.

I sanded down all the rails, and painted them flat black, and replaced all fasteners with stainless steel bolts and washers.

Anyone know what kind of wood was originally used? A friend of mine guessed teak.

The old ones I removed were certainly not teak. I thought white oak to be a good choice when I remade mine; fairly stable and stout. But certainly it may not be the original species.