I snapped a bolt in my chassis while unbolting the cross member (stupid, I know). Anyway, I was able to fish a new bolt up and into the hole, now I just need a way to hold it in place so that I can tighten the nut down on it.

I cannot weld the bolt in place, it's a Grade 8 fastener and the heat will anneal the steel and the bolt will lose the heat treating properties I am after. I cannot fit a wrench in, plain and simple. There is not access from in the car or any possible angle. Maybe I could use JB Weld to hold the bolt so it doesn't spin. Otherwise I'm buying a cheap 5/8" wrench and cutting a piece off and welding that in to hold the bolt. Or maybe file the threaded end into a hex shape and hold it with one wrench while tightening it with another?

In short, anyone know how much torque JB Weld can take while holding something?

 

usually not much. idk i don't jb weld stuff often. you cant even fit like a flex head wrench in there?

find your Asian friends small hands and such.

 

I've had this happen too, in for ideas.


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Just take a cheap 5/8 wrench, put it in a vice, and and bend it into an angle. You should be able to get at the bolt that way.

 

...there is no way to get a wrench in. I'd have to cut the chassis, and even then I won't be able to get it back out without bending the wrench into some crazy shape.

I had on idea suggested, getting a long bolt and feeding it through and then feeding the one nut on, then putting two more on to double nut it and hold it while tightening the first. If I can't make that work, I'm going to buy a cheap wrench and just leave it in the chassis of the car. I'll JB Weld the bolt in so I don't pop it up while lifting the cross member and JB Weld the wrench onto the bolt, probably because I'll have extra JB Weld to use, and I'll probably have enough to JB Weld the other half of the wrench to something else, maybe a STOP sign.

 

Do you have any pics so I know EXACTLY what you are talking about? Maybe I can make a suggestion. I'm more of a visual guy.

 

hes getn pics tonight. (this guy is always able to come up with sumthing)

 

I'm not much of a hack. But I've ran into it a few times on cars (Thank God it wasn't one of my cars) where guys would snap bolts and nuts. When push came to shove, I went ahead and drilled another hole so that I could hold the nut in place for the guy while he tightened it down.

Sometimes we're lucky enough where I can slide a nut in place with a magnet while the other guy would shoot the bolt on with an impact wrench/gun.

Sometimes you just have to get the job done and leave the rest for the next guy.

 

I ended up not taking pictures, but I did solve the problem. There is another threaded insert right next to the hole where the bolt goes. I took a washer and heated it up, then bent it upwards so that the washer and bolt can't spin separately. A piece of regular steel could be used, but I had washers and they already have a perfect hole and they were thick. I cut a little notch to slide the nut and washer into the chassis and then welded the washer in place even though the bent portion of the washer jams against the other threaded insert. Between short welds I cooled the beads with a wet paper towel so that it wouldn't heat the washer too much. Then I belt the metal back on the chassis and welded it up, again stopping periodically to cool the beads.

I cooled the weld because I didn't want to anneal the steel bolt as it is hardened and would defeat the purpose. Otherwise if I didn't care, I'd have just welded the bolt in the first place.

 

Well glad you got it done

 

good job.....redneck ingenuity comes through 60% of the time all the time