The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Broken Hinge bolt

Hope someone will have an idea. Top hinge, top bolt, I snapped the head off the bolt. I drilled a hole and used an "easy out" to try and remove with a gallon of PB Blast and heat. Of couse all I have done is how stripped the inside portion the bolt screws into so the broken bolt and the inner part just turn freely.
I have thought about spot welding the inner part where I can see it. Can I cut this away and weld a nut assembly in there?
Any ideas?

John

Try left hand twist drill bits

Sometimes you can get the bolt to back out while drilling

Start with the smallest drill that will grab then step up

If you have the access, and you have drilled the center of the bolt, keep drilling to the proper tap size, then tap it. If you drilled off center, sometimes you can keep drilling until you just kiss the original threads. Then use a drift (punch) to knock loose the remaining portion.

If I am reading your post correctly the cage nut on the inside is now loose meaning no amount of drilling or tapping will remove it? Is this the passenger or driver side? If passenger side removing the heater or the access panel may allow you to grab it with vice grips or something. If on the driver side there is no access to it. You may be forced into replacing the area with one of the door hinge repair panels offered by many of the vendors. This is a tough one that has come up before, maybe someone who has lived through one will post.

here is a good pic from woodys site
...pic...

maybe you can drill a few spots where the nut is from the jamb side ...pic... , spot weld them to keep them from turning then work on the bolt.

I actually used a few different ideas over the course of trying. I didn't know you could get reverse drill bits, next time I'll get a set.
What I ended up doing is drilling two small holes on either side of the bolt hole and pushed two finishing nails into these hole which went through the cage nut, this held it from turning. Then finished drilling with a 11/32 bit and lucky enough I was pretty much centred, then used the tap to clear the rusted threads and the remaining bolt out.
I will weld the the finishing nails in the two holes I have so the bolt can be removed again with out the cage bolt turning.
Thanks for the picture DADS, sure helps to see what is behind what you're working on.
Thanks for all the input guys!

John

I'd suggest if the engineers and assembly line wanted a nut that just sat there they'd of spot welded one there. There's a reason that nut is "Caged" and maybe a better answer is in applying a little anti sieze when you install the new one

KEEP LOOSE NUTS CAGED!!!!

What stops the cage bolt from turning from the factory? Since they are round, looking at the picture from DADS, is it a friction fit?
I don't know how to stop it from turning. what do you suggest?
Thanks,
John

a 'cage nut' is a square nut in a square sheet metal cage, the ones in Woodies pic are weld-nuts, tack welded in place or flanged into the holes, you'll need to tack it with a mig or wedge it some how, like jam a sharp tool against it, or as said above, drill a hole from the face and put a pin in it

Bill

He said he has 2 nails that are kinda caging the nut so it won't turn. Sounds like a good idea, only maybe use something better than nails. My advice is to use some aviation permatex on the threads or 3M butyl sealer http://3mcollision.com/3m-strip-calk-08578-black.html, that should keep the water out of the threads,the permatex though would act like a thread locker as it does harden a bit when it drys out. That butyl is good stuff and close to what the factory used like around head light buckets etc.

When I did my doors I wound up making making a cage and the nut. A bit of a hassle but setting my doors (for the third time) and finding final fit would of made swiss cheese out of the cage if I was pinning it.
I've since discovered you can get the square nuts at BigBox and hardware stores...

Thanks for more info guys.
Caso, I am assuming the Cage nut needs to float a little so you can adjust the door?
Sounds like I have rounded out the "cage". Could I reach in behind and pinch the cage back against the nut? This is the passenger side door.

Heres another pic from Woodys site


...pic...

I don't think you want your nuts to float

Solid nut, fine thread bolt, star washer.

Good luck

Thanks for the pictures. Like I said before, it's nice to see whats behind your work, to give you a better idea of what's going on back there.
Thanks again.

There is a difference between our two models which Woody's pic show well. On Mine it's a caged square nut. Those in the photo are not meant to slip. Different beast...

Heres a pic from the assembly manual

...pic...