13 replies to this topic

[Morgan9122]

Have removed front clam to enable fitting of a new radiator.

But had a nightmare with the bolts shown below:


(picture courtest of Steve Crisp's excellent guide)

One bolt had been rounded off by someone else (TMS??) and i had to grind the head off - now left with the stud stuck fast in the captive nut.

The other side turned about 2 revolutions and the siezed, i forced it too much and the captive nut is no longer captive and spins around.

Can i get the the inside of the fibreglass side sill to remove old captive nuts and glue in new ones??????

At least i got the clam off. I thought that these two bolts would be the easiest.


Kevin

Edited by Morgan9122, 12 May 2008 - 09:39 PM.

[techieboy]

Welcome to my world. Courtenay's spent 6 hours grinding off various bolts on my car last week in order to remove the front clam. I think you can get access to the underside of it by removing the black plastic sill cover and sticking your hand down into the recess. Looked like a major pain in the arse job and was glad I wasn't doing it as it took their full arsenal of tools to get the little blighters off.

[mandarinvx]

I think you can get access to the underside of it by removing the black plastic sill cover and sticking your hand down into the recess.

If you do, make sure you put some cardboard along the edges of where the chassis is machined, as they are razor sharp

[techieboy]

I think you can get access to the underside of it by removing the black plastic sill cover and sticking your hand down into the recess.

If you do, make sure you put some cardboard along the edges of where the chassis is machined, as they are razor sharp

Ah, that'll be what all the red liquid was that had seeped out of the gap there and dried on the external sill. No wonder the mechanic didn't come in on the Friday after spending all day Thursday on it.

[mandarinvx]

[john_s]

Can i get the the inside of the fibreglass side sill to remove old captive nuts and glue in new ones??????

Yes... they are held in with a sealant type glue.

I've put mine back together with a bolt up through the old captive nut, and a nut / washer in the gap in front of the door. I glued the old captive nut back where it came from. If I need to, I can put a spanner on the bolt head in the sill to hold it to undo the nut.

Oh, and I replaced all the nuts and bolts with stainless ones so should I ever have to do it again, hopefully it should be much easier to get the clam off.

[chrisculpt]

I think you can get access to the underside of it by removing the black plastic sill cover and sticking your hand down into the recess.

If you do, make sure you put some cardboard along the edges of where the chassis is machined, as they are razor sharp

Ah, that'll be what all the red liquid was that had seeped out of the gap there and dried on the external sill. No wonder the mechanic didn't come in on the Friday after spending all day Thursday on it.

I am glad I am not the only one struggling with this.., why would Lotus use such a bodgy , naff, fixing method ?, I tried to undo mine ( clam already smashed off, so just needed to fix new one on..) and the captive ( ha! captive, you must be joking,, they could have used cellotape, might have been more effective!) spun under mild pressure...but - I don't seem to have any access at all, without cutting a section out..
I am toying with the idea , of letting in a metal plate from the top, with welded captive nut , then skim over.. unless I'm missing where the access is?? any suggestions welcome..
thanks guys.

[Morgan9122]

Thanks for the replies, must admit I did feel a muppet, not being able to get the two 'easiest' bolts out. The rest came out ok(ish), but will certainly be replacing bolts and 'c' clips when replacing everything. Now off to take cill cover off and get access to these little blighters... Kevin

[simsy]

cill cover is bonded with tape and the foam underneath can split in to lots of pieces. If the support under the cill cover is not even the cover can split in time.... The clam job takes around 2 hours, 3 hours of which can be spent on spinning fasteners, even small ones... Thats just the way it is with these little cars. Tip - use copper slip or grease on all the screws so you evolve in to some thing new and improved next time....

Edited by simsy, 13 May 2008 - 09:46 AM.

[ratboiler]

Not really related but you now have the chance to change the crap horn and put something decent in.

[SPLAM]

Old thread revival So after messing about with loads of other bits on the car, I'm back to the siezed bolts on front clam, the two offenders are yes you guessed it, above and below the door hinge. Door is off for access, bolt heads are ground off, cill is removed. can get hand access to bottom bolt, yes the bonded nut is spinning. Question is can I punch the bolt/nut through from above? If not, how do you get the fecker out? Bolt head above the hinge is ground off, about 6mm of thread to play with. From what i can tell the rear of the bolt is impossible to gain access, what is the best way of removing this. I'm an engineer BTW [hangs head in shame] for TT

Edited by SPLAM, 16 January 2010 - 03:20 PM.

[Winstar]

Old thread revival


So after messing about with loads of other bits on the car, I'm back to the siezed bolts on front clam, the two offenders are yes you guessed it, above and below the door hinge.

Door is off for access, bolt heads are ground off, cill is removed.

can get hand access to bottom bolt, yes the bonded nut is spinning. Question is can I punch the bolt/nut through from above? If not, how do you get the fecker out?

Bolt head above the hinge is ground off, about 6mm of thread to play with. From what i can tell the rear of the bolt is impossible to gain access, what is the best way of removing this.

I'm an engineer BTW [hangs head in shame]

for TT

Yes you can just punch it through then fish it out of the cill, or more likely peel it off the remaining bit of glue, I've replaced mine with rawl nuts.

As of that one above I've still not figured out what to do with the one of mine that had to be cut off!

[SPLAM]

Managed to file a couple of flats on edges, got a good purchase with some mole grips, won't budge with plenty of twist. I'm tempted to grind it flat (although limited room is a PITA) and either drill and tap it a couple of mm smaller, or carefully redrill it 7mm and attempt to rethread 8mm?

[no_rice_for_me]

Another revival of this thread! I'm stuck with the same problem. Got one bolt up about 5mm but now its just spinning. Other side the head just rounded off as soon as I put a hex head in it. I'm thinking if I could release the riunded off bolt a bit that would be enough to pull the clam off? Someone must have come up with a genius ways of getting these awkward bugga's out by now?!