Front Upper Control Arm Bolt Blocked

[SamRaeth]

1. My model of MX-5 is: __ MX-5 Eunos NA Mk1 1.6 1990
2. I’m based near: __Warrington
3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __ Surely they wouldn’t design it like this?

I’m disassembling the front suspension for a bushing swap, and the long bolt in the front upper control arm is blocked by flanged nuts for the anti-roll bar. I tried pulling them off with pliers, knocking them off with a hammer and levering them off with a pry, but as far as I can tell they’re fixed to the anti roll bar mounting bracket.

Other things I’ve tried:

• Removing the anti-roll bar bracket entirely, but the fixing bolts on the far side of the frame rail are buried under multiple parts, so I’d rather avoid that.

• Unbolting one side of the anti-roll bar bracket and try to flex it out of the way to give the clearance I need, but the bracket seems to be inexplicably tack welded to the frame. I get no movement no matter what I try.

Are these actually just a pair of flange nuts that will come off if I whack them hard enough to get past whatever rust is holding them on? Or are they actually welded to the frame and need cutting off if I ever want to get my bolt out? I looked for similar issues and I couldn’t find anything. Anyone else had this problem? Any ideas how to get this out?

[Roadster_Robbie]

By design the bolt should come out without breaking those nuts off. Are you trying to remove the bolt with the arm ball joint still attached to the upright? Try removing the ball joint first so the arm is free to move about more and I think that you’ll get the angle that you need to remove the bolt.

[SamRaeth]

Thanks Robbie, wasn’t aware the ball joints don’t just come out and need prying out with a tool. Ball joint separator tool on the way. Joys of teaching yourself I guess.

However, I took apart the other side in exactly the same way, and this upper control arm bolt does clear the screws. The plot thickens. Now I’m worried the left part of my subframe is bent somewhere.

I’ll see if popping the ball joint gives me the wiggle room I need. Any other bright ideas how I can shuffle to bolt and gain 4mm or so extra height to clear the nuts?