johne

While removing my castor blocks I found that one of the bolts really does not want to come out. It would appear that the bolt screws up into a nut that’s wielded inside the body of the car. It would appear that the nut has been somehow broken free so that it now freely turns inside the body of the car. So now the bolt just turns and turns. I have so far been able to get the bolt half way out by prying downward against the top of the of the castor block to provide tension between the nut and the body, therefore providing some friction. It is a pain in the **** though. Most importantly I am not sure how I will get the bolt back in when I finally get it out. Suggestions??

Here is a diagram to help describe the situation.


Let me know what you all think. All suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks,
John

alexands

Is it the nut that protrudes into the engine bay, or the one under the frame? I would think you could drill a hole through the top of the flange and at least get a socket on it. I suppose that might weaken it, though. Maybe you could weld it shut once you remove and re-install the bolt.

jc22

I think I heard somewhere that there were (originally) no nuts there. It was just a threaded hole in the framemember which is why the torque figures were so low for those bolts. Is it possible that the threads were stripped on the frame? I saw a post here or in the emails about this including a remedy for your problem of re-installation, so try a search. I think it was on the email lists.

johne

Alex,
It is the one under the frame. Your solution makes sense but I really don't like the thought of cutting up my frame members.

jc,
There deffinitely appear to be nuts in there, as I got the other 3 bolts out and can see the nuts. Also the bolt is held very securely. And now that I have it half way out I can push it up and down .5 inches because the nut is not attached to the inside of the frame rail. I will try a search of the archives.

In the meantime, any suggestions are more than welcomed.

Thanks,
John

jerome951

I had the same problem a few years ago. There are nuts in there that are (barely) tack-welded to the inside of the frame member.

You could cut a slot in the frame rail and try to get a thin wrench in there, but you'd have to do this each time you want to remove or install the castor block (which shouldn't be often). Once you have a slot cut (and if it's in the right place), you might be able to find someone w/a stick welder who can tack the nut back down. Cutting a slot where the rail bends upward at the engine bay may work, but I'm not sure if the 2 nuts are too close to each other or the frame rail to get a wrench on just one of them.

My mechanic fixed my car by cutting the underside of the frame rail from where it makes the upward bend into the engine bay and peeling it back to expose the loose nut. He tacked it back down and 'unpeeled' the frame rail, welded it up and coated it w/ undercoating. No problems 4 years later and I've had the caster blocks on & off at least a few times since then. No ill effects even with spherical bearings for caster blocks now.

PorscheDoc

If you can push it up and down, try wedging something under the head of the bolt, (like a screw driver, or small crowbar preferably) to keep pressure outward, which will pull the loose nut up against the car body, and maybe there will be enough friction to keep the nut from spining as you turn a wrench....it may be easier with 2 people.

JonM..

Yeah try putting downward (outward) pressure on it...the same thing happened to me

DON"T TRY TO USE ANY LUBRICANT because after you get it off the real hard part is putting it back one because the nut will slide all over the place up there making it real hard to get back on...I was able to slightly lift the edge of the nut and apply a dab of JBweld on the out side edge, but if you used any lube the cement won't stick...just be carefull not to get any cement on the threads or you'll really be in deep.

OZ951

Also had that problem. I drilled a couple of 10mm holes to form a slot one side of the nut in order to allow some tool access there. Angled long nose pliers worked for me, the main thing was to wedge something in there so that the not could not rotate whilst being tightened or loosened. Seems like that particular aspect of 944's was not engineered all that well.

johne

Man, theses cars are a trip. Whenever you think you've got a weird and unique problem a dozen others spring up having had the same problem and lend their, unique solutions. You guys are great.

JonM, Hmm I kinda like your idea. Was it possible for you to get some JBWield in there before removing the bolt or not until after you got the bolt out?

Thanks,
John

Danno

I fixed this exact problem on another car once. Got the bolt out by pulling down really hard on the shaft of the bolt with channel-lock pliers while spinning the head with a ratchet. There were uneven lumps from the old spot-weld that prevented the nut from turning when enough pulling pressure was applied.

To fix, I just fired up a oxy-ace. torch and brazed it in place. The brass just wicked itself all around the contact surface between the nut and body.

JonM..

Oh yeah the bolt was out when I did the JB weld. I never had a problem removing the bolt, I just kept downward pressure on the arm.
Applying the Jb weld was a balancing act between wire to tilt the nut, and I believe a toothpick to apply the JB weld. Danno's idea would be good too (probably more permanent) if I had the torch and such.

johne

Thanks everyone for the good advice. Unfortunately I don't have supplies for brazing so I guess I'm gonna have to shoot for the JB wielding idea unless anyone else has any thoughts.

What I'm still concerned about is the nut moving once the bolt is out. What do I do to keep it from shifting around inside the hole? And even worse what do I do if it does shift around to where I cant get to it?

Thanks,
John

JonM..

yes it will probably shift around if your not carefull, but if you just pull the bolt straight out you should be fine...then when you go to put the jb weld on it just lift one edge at a time and apply some jb, slowly work your way around...it does not take much, take your time. Then be sure you let it cure fully before trying to reinstall the bolt.

KuHL 951

You might want to check out this thread from a few weeks ago-same problem different solution.

https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/145017-caster-block-mounting-holes-stripped-best-repair-procedure.html

johne

JonM,
Cool, thanks for the heads up.

2Tight,
Yep looks similar. Where did you end up getting the Time-Sert's from?

Thanks,
John