You can speculate until time ends if you want. Or, you can put an impact driver/wrench on the fasteners and . . . . . CRANK. Then, see what happens. You'll have your answer. If you need to be more aggressive with cutting tools, then you do. IMO, that's the time to decide. If not, keep doing what you're doing. Every vehicle is different depending on where its been and for how long.
It's just my personal opinion but I really try to avoid buying vehicles with evidence of the previous owners/mechanics/technicians tendency to over use cutting torches, crow bars, and sledge hammers. But, sometimes its the only way.
Chum lee