18 replies to this topic

[SteveA]

I'm in the process of removing the front clam. All was going well apart from the fact that 2 bolts will not come out. Unfortunatly they are in the tighest place ever. They are six mm allen key bolts and the heads have sheared. I have tried forcing a larger flat head bit in which didn't work, I have cut a groove in the bolt to force a flat head in and it just shears further (think the bolts are made of cheese ) I have a bolt extraction kit but in order to use it I need to drill a pilot hole, due to the position of the bolts the clam obstructs them making this impossible. Anyone got any ideas?

[luna_s]

is this the two on top of the a pillar ? if so your pretty stuck - apart from cutting the brackets carefully off the clam then reglueing with sikaflex(thats all they are held on with i think), other than that grinder all the way, ive just had to carefully grind all the screws off the wheel arch liners

[rabidh]

I had trouble getting some of mine out and I managed to cut the head off with a hacksaw blade without damaging the car/clam (I made a handle for it out of masking tape ). In my case the bolt had come out a little way but jammed so i could just get a blade in. You might be able to use one of those little modelling drills (dremel?) to cut the head off even if the bolt hasn't come undone at all though. Once the head is off you can just get some mul-grips around and undo it, but you have to be majorly careful as the captive nut can come off the back if you force it too hard.

[rik]

which are they? (if they are in the wheel arches, don't hesitate to just rip them out with pliers, and replace the captive nuts when you put it back together with the rubber ones from eliseparts)

[vocky]

when I removed my front clam the passenger door shut bolts both rounded off I found that a long 6mm drill bit could reach the upper A pillar bolt with the door shut, I carefully drilled the head off, the lower sill bolt was just loose enough to gently pull the clam free. you can gain access to the lower sill captive nut by removing the black sill cover, I removed the captive nut and then extracted the bolt in a vice, then cleaned up the threads before gluing it back on with 'serious stuff' adhesive the upper A post bolt was repaired by drilling out the remains of the bolt and re-threading the captive nut in situ

Edited by vocky, 18 December 2006 - 04:35 PM.

[danyeates]

Always use good quality socket set allen keys that go in your ratchet, not the naff 90 degree allen keys. Also, make sure they are metric! Shouldn't round the heads off then.

[SteveA]

It's these ones.



I have cut one of the heads off but it is still holding on. I've just bought some fresh hacksaw blades and am borrowing a dremell for the weekend. Hopefully I should get it. Thank god there is a washer under it to stop me hacking the sill tho

[luna_s]

get some plus gas or wd40 on it and leave it overnight, me id've just got the grinder on the case then molegripped the stud ;p I likes my grinder.

[oblomov]

Been there, got the 'T' shirt
STUCK

[richyroff]

At least you can get to those bolts! The bolt above that (just above the door hinge) has died on the passenger side of mine, Plans even tried to get it out! Going to have to remove the door so they can get to it properly £££.

[rabidh]

one of mine died there too. They were fine for the first few turns and then started to get harder after that - not sure why that is but i'll def be leaving WD40 to soak in when I do it again! As others have said you can get to the underside by removing the sill cover. Depending whether you get the remains of the bolt out ok you may have to re-glue the captive nut. The nut i had looked scarily small + badly shaped for the force I had to put on it to unscrew the bolt so I made another one out of a 1/2 inch thick block of ally I tapped out, seriously roughed up, and glued back on

[vectraboyv6]

When you put it back together dont forget to copper slip!

[SteveA]

Got em out in the end but the nut under the sill was rusted solid to the thread (once out I jammed the thread in a vice and tried to spanner off the nut and it didn't budge). Just incase anyone else has the problem the best way to remove them is to hacksaw the heads off, then remove the sill covers and storage pods. From here you can access the bottom of the screw (which is glued to the sill, WTF!). Get a stanley knife and prise off the glue from underneath. It's a bit tricky but the nut will fall down once unstuck. Here is a photo of the nut and thread under the sill after removal. PITA but sorted. [attachment=17616:attachment]

[Steve Crisp]

Absolutely essential, is to remove all of the clam screws and copper-ease them - even if you have no immediate thoughts about removing the clams. One day you'll need to remove the clams and you won't be able too!


Steve

[d0gz1]

Ive always found sharp chisels are great for rounded nuts like that. just tap it in the top of the bolt and as it cuts into the bolt the bolt will start moving.

[rik]

Got em out in the end but the nut under the sill was rusted solid to the thread (once out I jammed the thread in a vice and tried to spanner off the nut and it didn't budge). Just incase anyone else has the problem the best way to remove them is to hacksaw the heads off, then remove the sill covers and storage pods. From here you can access the bottom of the screw (which is glued to the sill, WTF!). Get a stanley knife and prise off the glue from underneath. It's a bit tricky but the nut will fall down once unstuck. Here is a photo of the nut and thread under the sill after removal. PITA but sorted.

[attachment=17616:attachment]

sill covers and storage pods? what are the storage pods?

[SteveA]

At the front of the sills the plastic bits that curve onto the dash with the storage pocket in em (VXT not sure if the NA's are the same)

[rik]

At the front of the sills the plastic bits that curve onto the dash with the storage pocket in em (VXT not sure if the NA's are the same)

ah i see. The sill covers and storage holes are all in 1 unit on n/a, and the storage hole is quite smaller i think.. when I had mine off, i couldnt fit my hand/arm very far it, so i wouldnt be able to get a stanley knife to the bolt (the damaged n/a I just bought has the same problem that you just had) /me scratches head

[SteveA]

You could drill it out but the nut and bolt thread will fall into to sill so you will need to get in to retrieve it anyway.