Quote:
Originally Posted by jaros44sr
Wouldn't it be easier to fix the stripped bolt holes? J.
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May be worth a try first. The nuts are held captive (welded) on a backing plate that can move around for adjustment, so my first thought was to swap out the backing plate braket with one I got from a board member with some door latches I bought (since I already have the 'good' part). I wa hoping that I was just missing some access trick that was not obvious to me.
I guess nothing is lost but time if I try to repair the threads first and I fail to do so. That would be considerably better than hacking the B pilar to get at it. The threads are beyond thread chasing as the internal threads are mostly gone. Should I simply overdrill and tap for the next size bolt? I seem to recall that they are already 5/16-20, so 3/8-16 would be the next step. My initial thought with a Heli-Coil is that they are mostly for blind holes in castings - I don't know if they work on through-holes in nuts. I guess another method would be to weld them up, re-drill and tap for the original bolt size.
Any suggestions on a thread repair technique? Anyone know of a threaded insert repair that works on nuts?
Thanks,
Herb