The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop need the nut that goes on the inside of the cowl for hinge bolt

Hello all,

Can someone point me to a replacement nut that holds the hinge bolts in place? I'm not doing a full restore, I just need a threaded hole that the bolt can go into on the backside of the cowl/hinge area. I saw a youtube vid last night where the guy had a rectangular block type of part with a threaded hole in the center.

The truck I'm working on is a 1957 Chevy Panel Truck. Thanks!

That is the quickest way for the repair .Block of steel with a threaded hole, You may see the old holder still there,if its there your in luck

Thanks. Any idea where to buy that block thingy, already threaded? I don't have access to a metal shop for that kind of stuff.

You can buy weld nuts from McMaster Carr. They have a variety of types that would work. Or you can just weld a nut with the right threads to the inside of the cowl.
Weld Nuts

Originally it was a cage nut but all it is a 1/4 inch thick piece of metal caged in a bracket. I think it was built like that for clamping pressure.
Plush it has to move to adjust hinge
I will find a picture of this part .so you can see what it looks like Look to buy heavy duty cage nut 3/8 fine thread.
Picture is not clear enough to really see much. Do you have a welder?

On my '51 there's one weld nut on the cowl that matches up with an oblong hole on the hinge, and two weld nuts on the hinge, matched up with oblong holes on the cowl.
Here's a picture from the inside.
You could accomplish a similar thing with a weld nut and enlarging the hole in the hinge.

Here is a modern day one ,just not as beefy as the old one. scroll down to Aligning Weld Nuts
https://www.mcmaster.com/cage-nuts/
If you don't have a welder these can be riveted it says. As you can see how it is made, that's why they put the piece of metal in its place inside holder,but the locking tabs still need to be there, for it to work.

I will have to look at it further to see if the "cage" part is still there. At present, the hinge is there, and the lower bolt is holding it on, but the upper bolt is not present. I tried putting a bolt in there early on, and it did not feel like it was hitting anything on the other side. Once the weather breaks, I'll remove the hinge and see if I can get a better look in there.

On the passenger side, I can see how the "cage" part works- but that's only bc someone appears to have cut the cowl off that covers over that part. [sigh]

And yes, I have a welder, but have not used it in some time. Hope to get up and running with it again this year.