I'm almost ready to drop the cradle, but the rear bolts won't come out! The bolts are spinning but that's about it. How can I access the nut side of the mount?

Remove the rear bumper cover to expose the open end of the rear frame rails. Stick something down there to wedge the "witch hat" nuts tight. They have 2 flat sides on the bottom. Then try to remove the bolts. Might need some PB Blaster sprayed in there to break the rust.

Before I learned this method I cut a hole in the frame next to the nuts..... not pretty.

I removed my wheel liners and used a cut off wheel to access the nuts. Took MAP gas to heat them up cherry red, quenched with PB Blaster, impact wrench removed them. I have heard of using hole saws to gain access, I prefer a flap as it can be folded down later when I am having the nut and flap welded. Whatever method you prefer, you definatly want to heat up that capture nut, cherry red, quench with PB.

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/091865.html

I'd rather not cut into the frame if I can avoid it. I'll try the bumper method first. Any other suggestions?

quote Originally posted by kwagner: I'd rather not cut into the frame if I can avoid it. I'll try the bumper method first. Any other suggestions?

Cut the head of the bolt off. This can be done with a cut-off wheel on a die grinder without damaging the bell washer if you take your time. After the head of the bolt has been removed, you can drop the cradle. Once the cradle is out, take a hammer and pound the rest of the bolt up into the chassis until it breaks the nut thru the cage that was supposed to hold it (but isn't anymore because it was allowing the nut to spin which is why you had to cut the head off the bolt in the first place).

Remove the wheel liner to gain access to some of the open slots the factory put in the chassis frame rail. Stick a magnet in there and extract the bolt/nut. Once out, you can chuck the bolt up in a vise and remove the nut from it.

At this point, I clean up the nut and weld a piece of box steel to it about 3" long or so (1/2" dia). Then you can put the nut back into the chassis frame rail and the bar steel will stop the nut from turning so you can tighten up those rear cradle bolts. The only bad thing about this method is your nut will be "loose" in the frame rail so you will need to make sure it is sitting over the hole correctly and line up your cradle bolt just right so it threads in there and doesn't push the nut out of position. But at least this method does not involve cutting any new holes or welding anything to the Fiero's chassis.

-ryan

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6+ years on this same swap -- NO engine or transmission failures...

Custom GM OBD1 & OBD2 Tuning | Engine Conversions & more | www.gmtuners.com

Thanks, some helpers had suggested cutting off the bolt head at the time but I wasn't sure where to go from there as far as getting the nut back in place.

quote Originally posted by Darth Fiero: Cut the head of the bolt off. , , , snip, , , At this point, I clean up the nut and weld a piece of box steel to it about 3" long or so (1/2" dia).

More than one way to skin the cat, that method is excellent for those who don't want to cut into the frame.

I had book marked a thread with pictures of the welded capture nut,,,,

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/083691.html

Maybe I should make kits to replace the bolt & nut with the method posted above? I could offer grade 8 bolts, washers, & nuts welded to the proper peice/size of steel. I'd have to check on the costs of the hardware to give anyone a price.
We DO have a car that has the same problem, that we intend to work on soon. I could use it for the R&D.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

There is no problem that cannot be solved with the *right application* of high explosives.

I have cut some open with a torch to cut the top off the bolt. Wasn't a pretty site. I would use a grinder to open up a square access hole, and hold the "hat" nut. Then weld patch over the access hole I cut open after I had removed the two cradle bolts. Cutting a square hole there will not weaken the frame. I have seen the inside there and would do this next time if I had this problem again. Lots of meat there. I just now read the "Jetman" method, that is the way to go about this.

[This message has been edited by josef644 (edited 07-13-2009).]

My method is to remove the rear facia. Look into the frame ends and you will see the cage nut. Spray with PB Blaster and let sit ( or apply heat w the torch) . Now reach in there with a faucet wrench and grab ahold of the cage nut. From below, back the bolts out using a powerful 1/2" impact wrench.

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I had the same experience and did not cut into the frame rails, I took rear rebar off. Reached inside with a mini die grinder and ground the one side of the witch hat nut. Turned it 180* and ground a bit on the opposing side, Then I clamped a small pair of vice grips to hold the witch hat nut and unbolted from below. When I re-istalled the cradle I re-used the bolts but because my witch hat nuts were garbage I used a couple extra of the conical wheel nuts with a pair of large washers from the top of my old struts. I just put 3/4" box end wrench onto the wheel nuts inside the frame rail and torqued them from below, This worked very well for me, and I will not have any problem with removal in future.

HAHA, had the same problem on my drivers side cradle bolt... My rear bumper cover was already removed so I just removed the steel bumper. Put a long pry bar into the end of the frame and wedged the pry bar between the nut and side of the frame (sprayed the nut first with PB). The nut is an odd shape; looks like a diamod shape piece of flat 1/4" sheet steel with a 1" nipple. The bold threads through into the nipple... The points on the diamond shape piece wedge against the pry bar and frame side...

I would take a picture of the nut, but it is being welded onto a piece of steel stock to prevent it from spinning during reassembly...

First thing I would do ,if you have not already, is remove the wheelwell and see if the frame rail has been cut into before. I had the same problem with my rear cradle bolts and found that someone else must have had the same problem. There was already a hole.

Steve

[This message has been edited by JumpStart (edited 07-14-2009).]