406oc.co.uk

Hi Everyone

Had a go at the rear roll bar bushes today passenger side went ok. Drivers side not so good though the bolt nearest the front of the car( the one thats just above the fuel filler pipe and breather pipe on the fuel tank) snapped off leaving 4mm of bolt. After that i packed up for the day as i don't have a stud extractor!

Looking at it i'm thinking i'll have to drill a pilot hole and then use a stud extractor to get it out not enough metal to get the molegrips on it. If there had been a bit more of the bolt to play with i could have used two nuts on it like a lock nut. Can't really think of any other ideas. Does anyone know how long the bolt is and what size it is i'll have to go to the nut and bolt shop 40 mile round trip its the only problem with living in the middle of nowhere . Looking underneath where the bolt goes into the bodywork looks like its underneath the back seat is it possible to get to the top of the bolt from under the seat. Trying to think out of the box here. Apart from this bolt snapping off the rest of it went fine. I soaked all the nuts and bolts over the last 3 days so it could have been worse. Cleaned everything up and put on plenty of copaslip on so it doesn't happen again.

Not many bits left to replace, done the droplinks, stabiliser bars and roll bar bushes. Hopefully the back end will feel a bit tighter now. Was shimmying about a bit on roundabouts. Any help regarding the bolt that snapped would be appreciated just in case someone has a better idea.

Thanks

Never had to take out the back seat, but if you can get at it you should be able to drill it out from under the seat and fit a nut and bolt through it.
Sometimes you can chisel off the captive nut that the bolt fits into and fit a nut and bolt.

Well done so far

Thanks

just had a look on the net and there are a couple of ways of doing it. Came across left handed drill bits which works just like an easyout. I've left the bit of the bolt thats sticking out to soak overnight so i might have a go with a pair of mole grips in the morning. Anything is worth a try. lol

Just an update had a quick look inside the car. took the back seat out to have a look and also in the boot to see if i can get to the snapped bolt from the other end no luck there the bolt screws into the bodywork underneath. so i'll be trying an easyout later on this afternoon. Was also thinking about welding a nut on as there is about 4mm protruding from the hole that will be the last resort as i don't have a welder but i know someone who does lol

Had a go at getting the bolt out and the "grabit" i bought from the hardware shop doesn't seem to be up to the job seemed to be cutting the metal out rather than biting into it and then turning. After looking on the net today welding a nut on the end of whats left of the bolt seems to be the best solution. Someone who lives next door has a welder so i'll let you know what happens. Has anyone had to resort to this method before and was it successful?