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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Stripped Captive Nut

Hello

I have been fitting new leaf springs to the midget and whilst fitting the back plate from the inside of the car I have managed to strip a the nut that is welded to the plate.

I have fitted a longer bolt and then fixed another nut onto it with a locking washer.

Do you think this will be ok or should I:

1. Leave it as it is?

2. Buy a new plate and remove all the suspension again.

3. Grind the nut off and then just bolt it on.

4. Grind the nut off an weld another onto it?

What do you think?

Why are the nuts welded to the plate?

I am tempted to leave it as it is with what looks like two nuts now. But not sure its safe.

At least it wasn't the captive nut that is attached to the body!

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thanks

Simon

Simon Taylor

Leave it as it is, as long as your longer bolt is the correct grade.

Or grind off the nut and then just fit a loose nut. It doesn't need to be welded.

The nuts are welded to make it easier to fit.
Dave O'Neill 2

Simon -

Sounds fine to me. Echoing Dave, as long as the bolt is the right grade, you end up with essentially the same setup you had before, which seems to have lasted a while. :-)

Cheers,

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

the good thing is that those fasteners were originally grade 5, which is the "ordinary" grade, the most commonly found

you can helicoil the threads and be as good as new, if you want to, or your nut will surely work just as well

some folks drill out and tap to the next size, instead of helicoils, because that is cheaper, either is fine

it is a good idea to go back and double check the torque of everything after a few hundred miles, and then, again, the following year, just to be sure

if you used anti-seize on the threads, reduce the torque by 20%, and if you covered everything with anti-seize (under the head as well), by 40%

if you assembled everything dry, then just use the book torque value

if there is no torque in the Haynes/Bentley book, then use the "industry standard" values for that size of UNF (fine thread), grade 5 fastener
http://mpi-online.com/technical/torquechart.htm


Norm
Norm Kerr

As Dave has already said, grind it off and use a nut. Perfectly safe! If you know someone with a welder, it's easy to tack a new one on.
Cheers John
HALL JOHN

Brilliant

Thanks everyone, I am gonna leave it as it is for now and at some point grind the nut off.

Thanks Norm for the torque setting that is very useful.

Cheers

Simon
Simon Taylor

Getting back to your original post, you said you were fitting new springs.

Out of curiosity, where did you get them? And if installed already, are they providing the same ride height you had before?

I've been thinking about leaf springs recently, having broken a leaf - am currently waiting on parts so I can rebuild them.

Tnx,

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

Hi gryf

Good to hear from you, if you remember we chatted a good few years ago about some Abingdon pictures I had. How are you?
Glad to see you still have the midget.

I replaced the spellings with new ones I found on eBay, they were British made so thought I would give them a go.

I replaced all the bushes and bolts and painted everything in por15 then chassis black. It's taken ages to get it all done. I put it back together thisweekend. The car is back on it's wheels and everything was left loose to let it settle.

At first it looked like a 4x4 but after standing on the bumper and bouncing up and down a bit it settled. The wheel arch is now near the top of the tyre. It looks about right to me. I need to tighten everything up and then fit some new check straps which I am waiting to arrive. Also then need to attach the exhaust and fit the bloody bump stops and hopefully it will be away.

I will take a pic when finished.

Hope this helps

Simon
Simon Taylor

Sorry springs not spellings!!!!

A mixture of my bad spelling and using a phone to post on here!
Simon Taylor

This thread was discussed between 23/07/2011 and 25/07/2011

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.