Creative ways to stop a caged....

[Bill Dangora]

Does anyone have a creative way to stop the caged nut at body mount #4 location on a 69 raodster from spinning?

It would really help to see what this caged nut setup looks like as I can't see a thing in there.

Is it possible to drill a hole throught the area in the wheel well so that a screw driver could be wedged in to stop the nut from spinning?

Any help would ge greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill

[David H.]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

The caged nut is square in shape and can be held with vice grips and then a crecent wrench on the vice grips. It will take a helper to be inside and good comunication when changing directions as you must go back and forth many times with a rust buster lubricant on the bolt. the cage is riveted to the body and body reinforcement and over the nut. the cage has a round hole in it for the bolt to come through. At first you can grip cage and nut together even if the rivets break as the ears on the cage will help keep the nut from turning. If the cage is rusted away then just grab the nut. David

[David H.]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

The caged nut is square in shape and can be held with vice grips and then a crecent wrench on the vice grips. It will take a helper to be inside and good comunication when changing directions as you must go back and forth many times with a rust buster lubricant on the bolt. the cage is riveted to the body and body reinforcement and over the nut. the cage has a round hole in it for the bolt to come through. At first you can grip cage and nut together even if the rivets break as the ears on the cage will help keep the nut from turning. If the cage is rusted away then just grab the nut. David

[Bill Dangora]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

Thanks for the response Dave.

Do I need to remove the convertible top hatch hinges or can I get by with just removing the spring?

Things look very tight in there. I can't see how I can get a studty set of vice grips in there.

The cage appears to still be intact.

[Bill Dangora]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

Thanks for the response Dave.

Do I need to remove the convertible top hatch hinges or can I get by with just removing the spring?

Things look very tight in there. I can't see how I can get a studty set of vice grips in there.

The cage appears to still be intact.

[David H.]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

Bill I din.t know you had a convertable. If you have not tried to loosen the bolt to the point of the nut spinning in the cage then do try spray and working it back and forth from the bottom. Get comfortable you may be there awhile. Go alittle further every time in each direction. If you plan on taking the body off then just cut the head and latter you can try to remove the bolt or drill the rivets out of the cage and replace all or part of the bad peices. I also don,t see why you can,t take out the spring holder or springs to get in there, I just never had exprience in the conv. area. David

[David H.]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

Bill I din.t know you had a convertable. If you have not tried to loosen the bolt to the point of the nut spinning in the cage then do try spray and working it back and forth from the bottom. Get comfortable you may be there awhile. Go alittle further every time in each direction. If you plan on taking the body off then just cut the head and latter you can try to remove the bolt or drill the rivets out of the cage and replace all or part of the bad peices. I also don,t see why you can,t take out the spring holder or springs to get in there, I just never had exprience in the conv. area. David

[Bill Dangora]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

Dave,

Foolishly i figured that where this bolt was in a protected area i could get it out without any grief. Boy was i wrong. The nut is spinning in the cage.

I don't want to take the body off at this time, I thought i would take the bolts out, clean them up, smother them with anti-seize for the day when i would take the body off to replace/repair the frame (New England car).

Thanks for your help.

Bill

[Bill Dangora]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

Dave,

Foolishly i figured that where this bolt was in a protected area i could get it out without any grief. Boy was i wrong. The nut is spinning in the cage.

I don't want to take the body off at this time, I thought i would take the bolts out, clean them up, smother them with anti-seize for the day when i would take the body off to replace/repair the frame (New England car).

Thanks for your help.

Bill

[Bob Unkel]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

Just went through the same problem on a 73 Roadster. Lyle Chamberlain recommended taking out the bolt at the bottom of the hinge/spring assembly. Then you can take out the spacer and the support. The support is held on with rivets. This is a good way to gain access to the cavity.
I ended up taking off the hinge/spring assemblies for bead blasting because they were covered with several coats of ugly paint. The only wrench I could get on the outer upper hinge assembly was a Sears Gearwrench that has 5 degrees of movement per ratchet click. You get 2 clicks per move-takes a long time.
The bracket that holds the square nut gets rusted out because water can sit in the well for the #4 nut. The nuts on mine were rusted to the point that they were almost round. I ended up cutting the bolts with a sawzall.

[Bob Unkel]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

Just went through the same problem on a 73 Roadster. Lyle Chamberlain recommended taking out the bolt at the bottom of the hinge/spring assembly. Then you can take out the spacer and the support. The support is held on with rivets. This is a good way to gain access to the cavity.
I ended up taking off the hinge/spring assemblies for bead blasting because they were covered with several coats of ugly paint. The only wrench I could get on the outer upper hinge assembly was a Sears Gearwrench that has 5 degrees of movement per ratchet click. You get 2 clicks per move-takes a long time.
The bracket that holds the square nut gets rusted out because water can sit in the well for the #4 nut. The nuts on mine were rusted to the point that they were almost round. I ended up cutting the bolts with a sawzall.

[Bill Dangora]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

Thanks for the info, Bob.
It does look as though the hinge-spring assembly needs to come off as the acess with that stuff on is really limited.
Not a fun place to work.
Thanks.

[Bill Dangora]

Re: Creative ways to stop a caged....

Thanks for the info, Bob.
It does look as though the hinge-spring assembly needs to come off as the acess with that stuff on is really limited.
Not a fun place to work.
Thanks.