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MG MGB Technical - STUCK NUT

I have never had a bolt frozen so bad and I don't know what to do next. 1966-B forward bolt that holds the leaf spring to the body. The nut came off fine but the bolt is frozen to the sleeve inside of the bushing. Any thoughts while the thing soaks in WD-40 overnight. I have tried the impact wrench and also hitting it from the opposite side with a BIG iron bar.
Steve C.
Steve C.

Steve, That seems to be very common, some people use a hacksaw and cut the bolt off on each side between the spring hanger and the spring eye. Good luck, Clifton
Clifton Gordon

Steve,
I doubt the WD40 will help. I like PB B'laster myself... As far as the spring bolt, when I did mine it took a Sawsall!
Rob Edwards

Use a penatrating oil and heat. Try a heat gun on "high" setting. Get the leaf nice and hot and do it quickly. Then spray penatrating oil inbetween the bolt and sleeve. Next beat on it for a spell, then wait 30 minutes and repeat the process until it comes out.

The idea is to heat the leaf spring more than the bolt. As the leaf spring sleeve heats up it will expand, creating a tiny gap between itself and the bolt. THis gap will allow the penatrating oil to do it's job. If you heat too slowly, the bolt will heat and expand as well which defeats the point of using heat. Good luck!
Steve Simmons

Steve just had exactly the same problem when replacing the rear springs on my 74 GT. The one spring came off easy. The right handside had the same problem. The bolt on the front bushing was rusted inside. I tried everything like you. I finally cut through the bolt and bushing on the inside of the hanger with an angle grinder. Protect the fuel pump with kitchen foil prior to causing any sparks.

New springs fit great and are perfect, worth the toil.

Good Luck,

Andy
Andy Preston

I agree with the "cut it out" group and use an air powered 4" cutoff tool myself for this purpose. The concept of heat is not a great idea. Open flame around the fuel tank is not one of my favorite things. The concept of "heat the spring not the bolt" makes no sense. The problem is that the front spring bushing has a steel, tube type insert. If some anti-seize was not applied to the securing bolt for the front spring eye, the bolt and this spacer can rust together forming a quite solid unit. To affect any heating of this spacer, by applying open flame or a heat gun to the rear spring eye would require that the rubber be heated sufficiently that the outer layer would be burning. Not a great idea. I have found the large cutoff wheel to be the most efficient and easiest to use. A jig saw with a metal cutting blade is less effective, but will work. Do not own a "Saws-all" (probably did not spell this correctly), but would think it would also be quite effective. Problem with blade type cutting tools is that you have to be able to get the correct angle to cut the hardened bolt without damaging the spring hanger and the blades tend to go dull quickly. Problem with the cutoff wheels is that they produce sparks. I find some cardboard between the cutting area and the fuel tank, or even better, a cheap aluminum oven bottom drip pan, makes me feel better when using a spark producing tool. Les
Les Bengtson

My heat method works wonders on stuck bolts, sleeves, etc. However, I forgot about the rubber bushing. That would be messy. As for open flame near the fuel tank, I never suggested doing that. I recommended a heat gun which uses no flames. I'm not one for blowing myself up, nor my car!
Steve Simmons

Been there - done that many years ago!

We did the job with oxy with minimum damage but don't go that way.

An air powered hacksaw or one of those modern saws that are like a horizontal jigsaw will give you access and IMHO would be the best bet.

May be slow but no risk of damage.

Plenty of non seize next time EH!!!

Good luck
Ian Buckley

I am soooooooo grateful mine weren't as stuck when I did mine last fall. Was tough enough job as it was. Sometimes you read these and realize how lucky you were.

JTB
J.T. Bamford

I'm going with the angle grinder and the aluminum foil at the tank, sounds like the best bet. Thanks Folks and I'll let you know the results.
Steve C.

Steve Simmons. We do need to do something about all of these Steves, mayhap assigning them numbers or something.

No, you did not mention the direct application of open flame. However, you do mention that you are applying the heat to the point where it will creat a slight gap between the metal sleeve and the bolt so that you may shoot penetrating oil into the gap. I wanted to make sure that everyone was aware that, regardless of heat source, when you attempt to heat a steel insert through 1/2" of rubber bushing, the rubber will tend to catch fire. For stuck parts, you need to apply between 350-550 degrees of heat as a minimum. For severely stuck and heavily rusted parts, you will be applying sigificantly hotter temperatures, often in excess of 1,000 degrees F. Somewhat hard to do in a device inside a rubber bushing, regardless of heating medium, without causing the rubber to burn. Les
Les Bengtson

I agree. Like I said I hadn't thought about the rubber bushing. Igniting rubber bushings directly over your face is probably a bad thing. Let this be a lesson to not listen to me when I suggest using tools of mass destruction!
Steve Simmons (Steve 435)

Steve,
When I rebuilt rear suspension on my 1970 B, same exact thing happened. Hacksaw worked fine right through the rubber bushing.
Gary Mills

A little history: My 65-b was sagging bad, I purchased another 66 for future restore project and it just sat better than mine, elevated about an inch in the rear. I decided to swap the springs and glad I did. It just made all of the difference in the world in the ride and I like the look a lot better. I drove it last night at 11:30 after finally using a hack-saw. My cutting tool blade would not reach the bolt but everything worked out. Thanks for the advise.
Steve C.
Steve C.

This thread was discussed between 07/05/2003 and 08/05/2003

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