first off, what yr bike is it? there are other options to get the plastics off, on my old bike, I cut a hole in the plastics large enough to fit the sliders thru, it became a pain cause I was always removing them to do anything to the bike.

if you do it with precision, it wont look bad at all, use your imagination when it come to cutting the hole. ask questions, measure 4 or more times before cutting, and dont use the first tool you find laying around to cut it.


as far as getting the bolt out, you might have to get a new set of sliders, but I would cut the slider off, take off the plastics, and find some heat (torch) and work it out that way, you might try working it back and fourth, each time try and take it 1/4 turn past the last turn.

I would not recommend an impact, you can really mess things up that way, especially if you snap it off.