cut off bolt for control arm

[richwms1]

I hope someone can help me with how I should proceed. I am replacing the control arms on my wife's 2001 pt cruiser and the passenger side control arm rear bushing bolt just kept spinning in the frame when I tried to loosen it, so I decided to cut the bolt off and I am unsure if I should cut an access hole in the frame to put a new nut and washer. Can someone please give me some advice?

Thank You

[mopar_man]

I'm sure this will get moved to where it's supposed to be but a friend of mine does several of these a month. Pull up the carpet inside the car above where the bolt is. There will be a dimple in the floor where the captured nut is. Use a 2" holesaw and cut a hole in the floor. Replace what you need and weld the piece back in that you cut out. Make sure you have a welding blanket or something to cover the interior parts before welding inside there. Shoot a quick layer of paint and you're done. The other option is to use a cut-off wheel and cut a flap in the subframe. Bend it open and your nut will be there. Bend the flap back into place and weld it up. Shoot a layer of undercoat over the patch when you're done. Good luck. It's not going to be easy.

[richwms1]

Thanks for the info! Do they make a metal hole saws, and or is there a special bit?



Thanks

[mopar_man]

Just make sure it specifies metal on the packaging when you buy one. Some are only good for soft materials like wood.

[richwms1]

Thanks a ton! You were right on the money! I did as you said and it worked perfectly! I cut the hole in the dimple in the floor and unfortunately had to do the same to the other side, but it went very well!

Thanks Again

[mopar_man]

I asked my friend about this again today and instead of welding that patch back in like he used to, he now just uses a piece of Dynomat to hold the "plug" in place.

[richwms1]

It seems that maybe what I had to peel off the floor under the carpet. I'll get some and do that. I really appreciate your insight.. I cut flaps and bent them back down temporarily and now I will just get that stuff to cover it up.

Thanks again

[02ltdpt]

I know this post is old...BUT I have the same issue and have done everything to the point of cutting the bolt off, the reason being the dealership doesn't sell the nut. So my question is where did you get the nut and how did you keep it from spinning upon installation?

[notsofly]

I'm having the same issue of spinning threaded insert for the vertical bushing.

I cut the hole on the passenger side floor then had to use a cold chisel to cut away the bracket that holds the threaded insert down, so that I could remove the insert and cut off bolt.
I've now moved on to the drivers side which has the same problem, I have the hole cut in the floor but haven't cut the bolt yet. Needle nose vicegrips just don't cut it to hold the insert from spinning.

There must be an easier way!!!

The only way I can see to tighten this down properly would be to weld a nut to the insert for re-tightening.

BTW the insert shows no evidence of any tack welds to hold it in place, how the heck did they tighten this at the factory?

After recently fighting this car to do the timing belt, this car is quickly earning the "TP Loser" monlicker in my books

[cdynaco]

Originally Posted by notsofly

After recently fighting this car to do the timing belt, this car is quickly earning the "TP Loser" monlicker in my books

It definitely has some flaws and the fact that Chrysler a) designed the vehicle with poor engineering on some things, and b) never bothered to improve the vehicle for many things - over 10 yrs of production, explains their demise.
I don't mind doing some wrenching over the years, but hacking and welding is pushing it.