Hi all, Got a real tricky one here on my RHD 355.... There's a 10mm nut that must have stripped the bolt as it just spins..it won't tighten down against the bracket it helps secure and it won't back out off the bolt. The bolt head is welded to the chassis and is impossible to find under the car...it is boxed in under the chassis somewhere. The thread of the bolt comes out into the driver's footwell (RHD) where it is one of a pair of bolts that secures the throttle cable bellcrank...it is the nut on the right that is the trouble in the photo. The other bolt is fine and the bellcrank is held on solid by this one bolt and nut. How am i gonna remove that spinning nut? There is no room behind it to prise it off. Should I just accept this and rely on the one bolt to hold the bellcrank on? Help!!! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Grab the nut with a pliers and pull out while you turn? Take off the other nut and use the bracket itself as a lever to provide pressure on the back of the bad nut while you spin a socket on it? Best. P.s. Your're sure it's not the threaded bolt that's spinning? Generally speaking that would be the far more likely suspect.
Use an angle grinder with cutting wheel to cut a slot in the end of the bolt, then use a screwdriver in the slot to secure the bolt while loosening the nut with a spanner. Or, use the angle grinder with cutting wheel to cut the bolt and nut off, replacing the bolt with an insert.
The nut appears to be down mostly all the way like the other one. I suspect it is the stud that is turning. Unless there is some reason to remove it (likely creating even more work fixing the problem stud) I would leave it as is for now.
Thanks Bruce but... No..bolt is fixed solid The head of the bolt is welded on the other side of the chassis...cannot remove bolt...no space as well for angle grinder in the footwell either i think
Tim Thanks Stud is a bolt whose head is welded to the chassis...it is not moving..it's the nut that spins on the bolt. Leave as is i guess...but not optimal...if the bracket fails then i have no throttle control!
You could take a Dremmel with as small a carbide burr as possible and cut the nut in half in two places. I would make the cut parallel to the bolt and cut as small a slot as possible on two opposing flats. Then stick a screw driver in your slots to "pop" the nut-off. This is a small nut in a confined area, but with a 3/32 or so carbide burr and a steady hand, I think it will work. I do this type of procedure on stubborn kitchen faucets in our rentals.
If you remove the bell crank assembly from the bracket, you will have more options due to much better access to the nut My first approach would be to wedge the tip of a thin blade, standard screwdriver under the nut to pry / apply axial away pressure as you simultaneously unscrew the nut. I think that with the bell crank out of the way, you will have enough room to get the screwdriver in there --- coming from the left side (in the photo).
Yes ...but... Bell crank cannot be removed with the bracket in place! The bolt holding it on comes out the bottom and it hits the floor way before its clear for the bellcrank to fall out..... Also with the bellcrank in place i cannot fit a nut splitter on the nut.. And there is not the space between the nut and the bracket to get a thin screwdriver blade in there.....the nut is touching the bracket ....but not clamping down securely Hells Bells
go get a nut splitter, split and remove the nut. once done then you can inspect the stud and I'm guessing that the threads seized into the nut and have stripped off the stud, leaving the threads above intact and thus preventing removal.
Thanks but there is no room for a nut splitter to fit. If what you say about the threads seizing into the nut and stripping off the stud is correct (i think it is) then once the nut is somehow removed will the stud be toast?
depends, more then likely the nut was over tq'd and stripped the threads or weakened them to where removal caused them to sheer. if there is enough thread engagement above that area then a spacer will work and you're good to go, otherwise the stud is toast. if there is no room then use a dremel with a reinforced cutoff wheel. split the nut by cutting a groove and using a chisel to force the nut open. it's doable but a pita, been there done that.
Dude ---- be creative. Remove the other (non-stripped) nut, then pivot the bracket around to an angle that allows removal of the crank bolt. You are making this too hard.
If you don't have to take the bracket off, tack weld that side in a couple places (spots ) It won't be that much more work when and if it ever has to come off, just my two cents.
This but remove the left nut so you can get behind the bracket to put axial force on the right nut then unscrew. If you can get a air impact gun in there the fast spin off is your friend. Also sometimes heating the right nut and spraying some WD40 pb blaster on there and heating it again will draw the WD into the threads to help you get the galled nut off the stud which you may have to cut off and reweld new anyway or at least chase those threads.
Take the retaining nut off the crank and cut the bellcrank piviot bolt. That will allow to take crank off and access the right nut. You can buy a new bellcrank pivot bolt
David.... No The bracket cannot pivot. With the other nut removed the stud will still block the bracket from pivoting.
Yes, I realized that after the fact (of my post) since you had mentioned the bolts were fixed. <oops> But, still..... you will scratch your head and stare it for a while and figure something out --- there is always a way... let us know how you solve it when you do
Looks like a problem child for sure. Try this: secure the nut with a wrench or vise grips so it will not turn. Drill a pilot hole in the center of the bolt. Screw in a bolt out appropriate size for the hole you drilled. Use the bolt out to hold the bolt while you remove the nut. Let the bolt drop back into the frame. Insert a Riv-Nut into the hole. Reattach with a new bolt.
