17 replies to this topic

[E-Tizzle]

Model: rover city e
Year: 1990

i was replacing my tie rods, because they were both looking as straight as roundabouts!

i managed to remove the passenger side easily enough. but when it got to the driver side the rear bolt (closest to the wheel) was seized solid. i tried hitting it with a hammer whilst turning the spanner. cans of wd40 soaked into it. i even resorted to cutting the tie bar in the hope that the bolt head would be left with a bit of clearance and i could lever or hit it out. the tie bar came off and the bolt was left, tho it still would move, not with more wd40 or no matter how hard i hit it.
so i have resorted to grinding the head off the bolt of, so that i can just hammer it through - still doesnt move.

the only thing left i can do is drill it out. the only problem is that the access is a bit awkward and i would like to do it very accurately. i think i may do more damage by drilling it. the other this is that i dont have a ball joint separator so i cant even remove the wishbone that its attached to, and do the job in the garage.

has anyone got any ideas.

other than bleeding the brakes this is my last job on the car before it is roadworthy, so its stopping it being drivable, please help.

heres a picture if that helps

[WiredbyWilson]

have you tried heating it up?

[L400RAS]

Remove the nut from the remainder of the bolt thread, Jack the car up, then put something solid underneath the bolt, and lower the car back down, to force the remainder of the bolt through the bottom arm. once there is tension on the bottom arm, you could try tapping the arm down further to shock the bolt through.

[Pooky]

I'm with David, apply heat with a blow torch to the bottom arm. Do this for a few minutes and it'll heat up and expand off the bolt. Simples.

[E-Tizzle]

cheers
ill try the jacking technique.
i did think about heating it up but i only have a small hand held blow torch so i wasn't sure if it would be powerful enough.
if he jacking doesn't work then i will try heating it up whilst its resting on the bolt. (a combination of both techniques if you know what i mean.)

[E-Tizzle]

right i have just tried jacking it up and putting the weight on the bolt. i put a couple of brick under it and guess what - nothing happened.
so then i tried just jacking straight onto the bolt, and i was able to support the whole weight of the car on it, it lifted the car of of the axle stands!!!!.

ill try heating it up a little later on, hopefully the temperature will drop a little outside as well.

[mars red mike]

Drown it with WD40 or equivilant releasing agent, leave it to soak in overnight. Suitably sized punch and a decent mallet with a few stout whacks and it should come right out. Failing that you are gonna have to heat it up. When you do eventually get it out, put a little copper grease on the new bolt before
you put it back in and it should never seize in place agian.

mike

[me madjoe 90]

HEAT! is the way

but dont use it to much its quite rought and can cause hell loads of problems

a littel blow torch should do i got my sized ball joints out with a small chefs blow torch as dident have access to anything better.

[Cooperman]

Whatever you do don't try to drill it out. It's a safety critical fitting and the hole diameter must be exactly the right size to avoid weakening the joint when assembled.
If you intend to be doing any work on a Mini you do need a ball-pin splitter, so go and buy one. They really are needed for working on Minis. Then remove the bottom suspension arm, heat it right up with the arm in a vice and drive the broken bolt out with a big punch. That way you'll not damage the sized hole.
When re-assembling use the correct bolt - it has its own part number. Although many disagree, I always fit the bolt upwards and use a nyloc nut. I also deform the thread above the nut with a punch and chisel so that the nut can't come off. A new bolt is needed for each time this is stripped down which, hopefully, is not often. The reason I fit the bolt upwards is so that I can remove it in a hurry without dismantling the hub/lower swivel pin.

[mars red mike]

When re-assembling use the correct bolt - it has its own part number.

I didnt know that. You learn something new everyday. I thought it was just a generic bolt, albeit of the correct size and thread.

[MiniBonkerz]

I had this and they really were not going to come off in the end i just bought new lower arms and bolts even once off the car the drill didnt even want to know i could have saved alot of time just by replacing

[E-Tizzle]

yeah i found the bolt on minispares (although from the picture it doesnt look good quality)

http://www.minispare...=...3765&title=

but they didnt do the matching nut, do i just use a bog standard nut with this bolt.

Edited by E-Tizzle, 04 June 2010 - 06:21 PM.

[Cooperman]

When re-assembling use the correct bolt - it has its own part number.

I didnt know that. You learn something new everyday. I thought it was just a generic bolt, albeit of the correct size and thread.

Mini Spares part number is 53K1031 and they retail at 82p each in VAT.
Use copper grease on the shank when installing plus a flat waqsher and a nyloc nut.
Torque is, I think, 25 lb.ft (chek this to be sure).

[MRA]

The reason for fitting the bolt downwards is a safety critical thing You don't want it dropping out as you drive along

[E-Tizzle]

YEAH!!!!!!!!!! i finally got it off.

after about 15 minutes heating it with heat gun i managed to whack it off with a mallet.

and the thing i said about not having a nut on minispares, i can just use the one i took off because i didnt cut that off.

cheers for your comments guys