Hello, have noticed a hell of a rattle coming from the rear of my Eunos when driving over even slightly bumpy roads, got underneath to inspect and I believe this bolt is the suspect, it’s loose and won’t tighten, it just spins around freely no matter which way I turn it, what’s the easiest way of tightening this up and/or gaining access to do so? (I assume it’s a nut and bolt and not just a bolt)
EDIT: Here’s a video to demonstrate the issue better https://www.instagram.com/p/BjkX4k2jUTs/
Captive nut weld has broken, probably by whoever fitted the exhaust. Its a longitudinal brace, only fitted to 1.8s. You could take it all off and not really notice much difference. Otherwise, I can’t see a simple fix here short of tearing into the box section.
The exhaust was blowing, so I had that sorted out, I guess this is when it happened. I’d like to keep the braces on if possible, so may have to take it to a garage?
You could clean up the metal on the brace and on the area that it mates with and weld it, assuming the steel in the box section is in good enough condition to weld to. Will the weld crack, it would with my welding skills but someone with more skill could probably do it
I agree with SAZ that trying to get to the loose captive nut would not be worth the hassle as you would have to cut into it the box section, weld the captive nut to some good parent metal if there is any and then make a weld repair to the box section.
I don’t know if its possible just to weld everything up there, or if a garage will have to cut a slot in the section, to get a crescent wrench on the nut. If some muppet has managed to snap a weld, its probably going to be pretty solid, and might need some heat on it. Given all that grief, I’d give chemical metal or similar a shot; it’ll probably just crack and rattle loose, but there is nothing to lose.
Would you guys say it is safe to drive in this condition?
Not for me to say if its safe to drive. It doesn’t look like the bolt is actually going anywhere, but I’m not there. You’re best consulting with a garage. Don’t think anyone on the forum is going to accept liability.
Take it to the local MOT station and get the tester to give it a quick look, they will say yes or no but make sure it is the actual guy that does the MOT tests.
Could you drill out the existing nut and insert a Steel Thin Sheet Open End Rivet Nut M8 or M10?, whilst a special tool is normally used a nut on a bolt tightened one against the other can be used to expand what is basically a revit. Not sure if I have any M10’s I certainly have M8’s I could put in the post to you
I have had a look behind the passenger seat and underneath the carpet, there are a few 3/4"-ish holes in the metal, one of these holes provides access to the nut the other side, the only issue is the hole is too small to fit any tools in and too small to pull the nut out.
Instead of having to cut the hole bigger to gain access and remove the nut from the other side, I was thinking or trying some split washers (if they’d work) to remove some of the slack and then some of that glue stuff you can get that bonds metal together, hoping this will work as a temporary fix.
Nothing is going to happen until after work tomorrow when I can have a better look though.
Pull down on the torsion bar and grind the head of the bolt off, move the torsion bar out of the way then grip whats left of the bolt shank with mole grips and pull it down while welding it in situ, then grind the shank almost flush with the bodywork you can then drill and retap the now captive nut.
Hope that makes sense.
Why not pull it down as above and re weld on the inside of car , through the hole you mentioned?Of course weld may break agaib due to bolt being seized in to the bolt.
My idea would be to cut the head off the bolt then lift out the broken nut from the inside.Then replace inside nut with standard hex nut and decent size washer
Firstly, it might be possible to “wedge” the bar down hard, causing enough friction at the nut to allow the bolt to be unscrewed.
If not and you are prepared to sacrifice the bar, it might be possible to carefully cut it away, possibly using a miniature cutting disc in a “Dremel” tool, leaving the bolt intact and temporarily in place.
I’m thinking that two accurately cut, parallel slots from the (front) end of the bar, one either side of the bolt head, leaving a “forked” end, should allow the bar to be knocked free rearwards. The bar could probably be re-welded to restore it.
You could then drill through the box section from below in a couple of places near the periphery of the nut. Then wedge the bolt down hard enough (possibly using something along the lines of a small a ball joint separator) to hold the nut flush against the inside of the structure. Then “plug” weld the nut through the drilled holes to recapture it. The bolt should then unscrew.
Just an update.
Got my garage to fix the problem, they cut the hole behind the passenger seat bigger and fit a spanner on the nut, then tightened it from the bottom, seems to have fixed the issue. Happy days.