tommyboy33333 said:

yeah ziggy , need to get myself some copper grease

i blame scotty kilmer he made it look easy , he changed a wishbone in 3 min lol

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atom0007 said:

I didn't find that the bolts were very rusty, surprisingly.

I did go back and forth a bit, this always helps clear the rust out the threads.

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tommyboy33333 said:

i don't mind lifting the carpet , for a while i was thinking the sub frame had to be dropped, pure nightmare ,

yeah i done the same loads of penetrating oil , no joy , should have worked it back and forth slowly
yes ill get the bolt from the stealer's, be on the safe side

so I'm hoping its a case of measuring dead on, cutting a hole in the floor pan and the captive nut will be at the top of the sub frame

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judderbar said:

the captive nut is on the subframe

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Fiat2002 said:

Thanks judderbar I recently just noticed myself trying to squeeze a wrench inside to grip the nut.

What do you suggest i do? Remove the whole subframe and weld the nut back? If thats the case, do i need to hold up the engine?

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Fiat2002 said:

Thanks judderbar I recently just noticed myself trying to squeeze a wrench inside to grip the nut.

What do you suggest i do? Remove the whole subframe and weld the nut back? If thats the case, do i need to hold up the engine?

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judderbar said:

Personally I would want to avoid removing the subframe if there was an alternative way - even when I know I have good bolts that are going to come out easily.
If you drill upwards thru the damaged nut and then enlarge the top newly drilled hole inside the car to fit the nut over the lower newly drilled hole you could probably tighten the wishbone bolt sufficiently to compress the first layer of plate under the car down onto the subframe using a longer bolt of the same strength. The strength of the bolts are marked so you can get a replacement from an engineering shop.

On the other hand, to get the subframe out with minimal work.............


Better to support the engine, but the dogbone only stops the engine from rotating when you are driving.

Potentially if you remove the top nut off the strut inside the engine compartment, take the sliding pins out of the caliper as if you were changing the front brake pads and support the removed calipers, unclip the ABS cables from the subframe, undo the pinch bolt holding the steering rack to the column, release the petrol and pipes from the plastic pipe on the subframe you might be able to rotate the subframe sufficiently to get at the nut without taking the struts off the hubs and disconnecting the drive shafts.

If you make a good job of drilling out the nut I cannot see why you cannot just fit the nut inside and compress it all down. No worries that come to mind at the moment.

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Fiat2002 said:

I see what you're saying.

Does the captive nut need to be welded onto the subframe? I'm thinking if i just unbolt the subframe a bit, like an inch so it drops a bit, i can possibly get a wrench inside to hold the nut while i undo the bolt. Then just replace wishbone.

just wondering if the nut has to be welded for structural integrity or something, i dunno

Thanks.

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judderbar said:

So drilling the nut out correctly from below is impossible. There is no way to get the drill to correctly go thru the wishbone and through the middle of the nut.

Next problem is the captive nut is in a recessed hole. I am imagining grips at an angle will be a challenge and the weld will cause the nut to tear using a socket. The captive nut welding is just for convenience.

It is not difficult to lower the subframe if you can support the car safely. You just need to make sure you work the bolts out gently with plenty of back and forth to break them free of the rust. Give it a bit of muscle to undo and then the other direction with the same power rather than trying to break them free with all of your strength, and just keep repeating this. Eventually the bolt will break free from the rust.

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judderbar said:

So drilling the nut out correctly from below is impossible. There is no way to get the drill to correctly go thru the wishbone and through the middle of the nut.

Next problem is the captive nut is in a recessed hole. I am imagining grips at an angle will be a challenge and the weld will cause the nut to tear using a socket. The captive nut welding is just for convenience.

It is not difficult to lower the subframe if you can support the car safely. You just need to make sure you work the bolts out gently with plenty of back and forth to break them free of the rust. Give it a bit of muscle to undo and then the other direction with the same power rather than trying to break them free with all of your strength, and just keep repeating this. Eventually the bolt will break free from the rust.

Click to expand...

judderbar said:

So drilling the nut out correctly from below is impossible. There is no way to get the drill to correctly go thru the wishbone and through the middle of the nut.

Next problem is the captive nut is in a recessed hole. I am imagining grips at an angle will be a challenge and the weld will cause the nut to tear using a socket. The captive nut welding is just for convenience.

It is not difficult to lower the subframe if you can support the car safely. You just need to make sure you work the bolts out gently with plenty of back and forth to break them free of the rust. Give it a bit of muscle to undo and then the other direction with the same power rather than trying to break them free with all of your strength, and just keep repeating this. Eventually the bolt will break free from the rust.

Click to expand...