# Body bolt repair



## DT-Fan (Oct 12, 2015)

Hi,

seems like the washer of a body bolt rusted away. Question is how to repair this without taking the frame off. The bolt is the one on the right front side.
Can one tell me how to access the counterpart side? 
Any special hints or recommendations on the repair?


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## devildawg (Apr 27, 2012)

*Body Bolt*

What year make and model are you dealing with? As far as I know all of the 60's GTO's had two mounts up front with the #1 inboard and #2 outboard.Both have caged nuts welded to the body structure inside the rectangular openings in the picture with the red arrow showing #2 .This is inaccessible and you'll need to remove the hood.door fender and skirt to get to it.If your dealing with the inboard bolt #1 the first thing you want to do is douse it in a good penetrating oil like try flow for several days. Then say a prayer and try to break it loose.Considering the amount of rust in the picture I would plan for the worst and either leave it alone or take the front end off for access and plan on replacing the assembly.If you get it out you don't have to weld in the cage just use the nut only and use a wrench to hold it .

Best of luck


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## anotherls1 (Mar 28, 2016)

devildog, do you have more info on that body cart you have pictured? im definitely interested in something like that.

thanks!

the car I am working on now, the owner had to cut and fold metal out of the way to free the rusted hardware. I believe well be able to fold/weld/grind it back down into shape.


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## DT-Fan (Oct 12, 2015)

devildawg said:


> What year make and model are you dealing with?


It's a 68 GTO Convertible


> As far as I know all of the 60's GTO's had two mounts up front with the [URL=http://www.gtoforum.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1]#1 [/URL] inboard and #2 outboard.Both have caged nuts welded to the body structure inside the rectangular openings in the picture with the red arrow showing #2 .This is inaccessible and you'll need to remove the hood.door fender and skirt to get to it.If your dealing with the inboard bolt [URL=http://www.gtoforum.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1]#1 [/URL] the first thing you want to do is douse it in a good penetrating oil like try flow for several days. Then say a prayer and try to break it loose.Considering the amount of rust in the picture I would plan for the worst and either leave it alone or take the front end off for access and plan on replacing the assembly.If you get it out you don't have to weld in the cage just use the nut only and use a wrench to hold it .


I assume it is the #1 location.
Considering what you wrote, I feel I leave it for the time until it really turns into a problem.
Thanks for your hint, much appreciated!


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## Pinion head (Jan 3, 2015)

On the '68-72 GM Abody Converts and wagons, there are two bolt-in mounts on each side up front and what amt to the torque boxes are accessible from the front of the cowl, if the fendrs and inner fenders are off. Then like other body style A body's there is a bolt in mount aft of the front seat belt retractor. Another further back, along with one on the rear rail in front of the trunk, then the rear bolt at the rear corner of the frame. All original bolts had a 5/8" head. Always use a 6 point socket. I always use a long handle ratcheting 1/2" break over. So many times when one uses an air impact or a cordless impact, one will break off a rusty body bolt. The nice thing about the long handle ratcheting break over, can often sneak up on the point of resistance, then let off. On the front mounts, I always spray them down with Kroil, or in an emergency PB Blaster (if out of Kroil). The front big caged nuts up front, if they break from their clips , and one has the inner fenders off, one can often jamb a pickle fork up against the big square nut, and then with the nut sorayed down, break the bolt loose from the underside. if the bolt breaks off, in the front broken caged nut, then can be replaced. Years ago, actually made a wrench to get down in the outer torque boxes and grab the edges of the square nuts.

Further back, when you peel up the carpet there will be a upwards bulge near the seat belt retractor area, that is where the next attaching bolt threads up into a caged nut in the body. one can drill a small hole in this little bulge and spray Kroil down on the nut. Typically, on a northern car, or a field car, I occasionally have problems on this middle bolt, or on the next one back. If a bolt breaks off in either of these two locations, going to have to locate the exact spot, then carefully with a small Dremel cut off wheel, make a 3 sided cut, then pry up the "tab" and get the offending nut out. 

Replacing the body bushings, remember there are total junk repro bushing kits out there, then there is the quality one offered by Fusick and I believe Ames carrys this version as well (PY did).. OPGI has been noted as selling the junk bushing kit, and I wouldnt trust Y1 or the Parts Place for anything of quality in this area (or many others). 

On '68-72 2 door A bodys, there are 3 different lengths to the body bolts, always tag them when removing for reuse. The shortest bolt, at 2 3/8" goes in the bushing near the front seat belt retractors. 

If car is going to see considerable track duty or is being set-up for extreme handling, it is smart to add an extra bolt and mount on the inboard up front where the dummy mount goes,mthat is on 2 door hardtops and Coupes. Convert's and SW's will have a bolt in mount in this position, believe ElCo's did as well.

Best to all in replacing bushings, need more info feel free and ask.


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## devildawg (Apr 27, 2012)

anotherls1 said:


> devildog, do you have more info on that body cart you have pictured? im definitely interested in something like that.
> 
> thanks!
> 
> the car I am working on now, the owner had to cut and fold metal out of the way to free the rusted hardware. I believe well be able to fold/weld/grind it back down into shape.


I bought the materials at home depot,called strut channel used for hanging pipes and lighting.They have spring loaded nuts that insert into the channel and were convenient in a couple of locations.I think they sell it in 10 foot sections with 1 1/2 H x 1 1/2 Width. The side runs were 68 inches and the cross pieces i used were 58 inches.I picked up and bolted it to both left and right #2 mount positions and the #4 's in the back which made the car tail heavy so had to put sand bags up front.I would have rigged some support farther back if this were not a post car. The post adds extra rigidity so it picked up any stress from the weight of the trunk.I would have had to build something taller to pick up the aft mounts to carry the extra weight but this set up worked ok for my coupe/post car.If your working a hard top I would definitely fabricate something that supports not only the forward mounts and #4 's but something that supports the rear mounts to carry the weight of the trunk so you don't flex her at the roof welds. I also had to use some small pieces of 3/4 x 3/4 channel you can see in one of the pictures for shimming. You may also want to check out Squids Fab Shop for a lot of pictures of his 67 GTO convertible and the dolly he built using lumber. His site was very helpful with my project and he really did an outstanding job on his machine. 
Please keep me posted on your progress and I'd love to see some pictures.
Best of luck
Devildawg


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## A52-830 (Apr 29, 2016)

so, i have started the pregame show for replacing the body mount bushings. i have drilled small holes from the inside for the 3, 4, 5, and 7 mounts on the drivers side (the 6 mount is rusted away, i am preparing to fabricate a new tower) and squirted some "aerokroil" into them to loosen up the nuts.

i assume that i am going to "lose" some of them by snapping off the bolts. i was sitting there today, looking over discussions about cutting access flaps to get to the bolts, and cutting the cages to get the nuts out, and getting the bolts out of them, and putting it all back together. 

wow, that seems like a lot of work. buying replacements for the nut is 3.50 at ames, and the cage is, as i recall, 7.50. that is more than i paid for the bushings and the bolt/washer set they sell, and replacing the cage looks like a pain.

after considering for a bit, i wondered why i just dont buy some grade 5 nuts, and maybe some lock washers, and plop those puppies in from the top? if i am going to open it up, why not just get rid of the whole caged nut thing, fold the flap back down when i am done, and tack weld it in place.

hell, why not just drill a 1" or 1 ½" hole, and put a plug in it?

sure, it is not prototypical, but that ship sailed along time ago.

am i missing something here?


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## A52-830 (Apr 29, 2016)

well, yesterday, i snapped off #3 on the drivers side. this morning, i opened it up from above. there was rust through just behind the "mound", so i poked some nips thru there and started cutting. the nut was unrecognizable, and the cage was substantially rusted away.

in the first image, i had drilled thru the floor pan with a 1.5" saw, which left a useless hole. not big enough to even see what was going on. the jagged edge on the right is where the rust had eaten through the floor pan. i used the nips to cut two lines, along the top and bottom of the image, and folded the flaps back. as you can see, there is nothing there that looks like a nut. it is there, though.

the second image shows the enlarged hole. the cage remnant is folded back towards the left to allow me to get the bolt out. that is it on the right, upside down. the shiny middle is where it snapped off underneath. there is a ruler for scale. not quite the nice rectangular bolt i've seen in the pictures. i tried pounding it out from underneath, but ended up using a chisel to break it free from the top.

at this point, i can't imagine digging out the rest of the cage, and clearing enough room to put a new one in. i went into town, with one of the bolts from the kit i bought, and purchased some grade 5 nuts and lock washers. i'll be going back to ames to get a few of those large washers that they sell for the use with the bolts, since the TrueValue didnt have anything appropriate. and just go with that.

so far i have snapped one, loosened three, budged one, and have two that won't move (both #7s , in the very back.) #1 & #2 , at the front, both sides, and passenger #3 and #6 , i haven't tried yet. (yes, that doesn't add up. drivers #6 was completely rusted out. i'll need to replace both the bracket on the frame, and the tower that goes up to the body)


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