MG Midget Forum

I have been hitting these suspension bolts with PB Blaster for several days now anticipating the work to be done.I still managed to He Man this one off. Obviously it's super tight and I'm not sure on the best approach without screwing up the threads on the link.Plus the bolt it passes into has an indentation in it so I can't pound that one out either. Any help appreciated.

Your probably going to have to drill and retap or chase the threads. good luck with that.

break out the left handed drill bits.

Say I pick some left handed bits. What is the next step?

Hi Andy
If you have access to a welder try placing a nut (about the same inside dia. as the hole) over the opening and weld the nut to the bolt. Use high heat on the welder then let it cool and give it a try. The other thing is to centre punch the bolt and drill with a reverse twist drill bit and run the drill counter clock wise. this may spin the bolt out. Reverse twist bits are available from auto parts stores. Good luck

I can't weld a nut to it as it broke inside the hole a bit. Thanks for the drill bit suggestion.

First try an easy out. The easy out will come with the correct size drill. Drill the hole. The easy out has a tapered spiral left hand thread Screw it into the hole counter clockwise. The left hand thread will lock into the hole which should then unscrew the bolt.

If this doesn't work then I would cut the upper fulcrum pin off leaving enough of the pin to use a center square. Draw 2 lines across the pin and you will have the center of the pin. Center punch the intersection of the lines and drill out the pin. Start with a small drill and use progressively larger drills. You won't have to drill to the exact diameter of the pin. When you get close you will be able grab the pin with pliers and twist it to get it out. This will also remove a portion of your frozen bolt. The frozen bolt is not threaded for it's whole length. Only the end of the bolt is threaded. I just looked at one in my garage to confirm this. You may get lucky and the bolt may unscrew. If not do whatever it takes to cut off the non threaded portion of the bolt and remove it. I would use a dremel tool. You will now have a pilot hole that you can use to drill the exact center of the frozen bolt. Use the drill for the size of the hole first to create a center You are not trying drill out the bolt You are just trying to create a center like a center punch for the other drills. Try the easy out first. If it still doesn't work drill progressively larger holes until you get to the size for the tap for the threads. You could then try to tap the hole. There won't be much of the bolt left at this point. Only the threads. The threads may fall out as you work the tap. Or you could try a pick with a bent tip to get the rest of the bolt out.

Or you could take the upper control arm to a machine shop and have them remove the bolt. Might be expensive.

Thank you for the great suggestions. I always seem to snap off easy outs when I use them - especially small ones like this. I have lots of ideas to try now.

So this is going to sound crazy but a machine shop recommended it to me and I tried it once and it worked great.

1) It looks like you could weld a nut to the threaded portion of the bolt extending out the opposite side (I think that is the one your are referring to)
2) If you have access to an acetylene torch heat the bits the bolt passes through, get them red but not too cherry. With all the oil on the parts wear a mask.
3) now for the crazy part, put a candle up against the threaded bolt where you welded the nut. The wax will wick into the bolt. Now put a wrench on the welded nut and try to back the bolt out.

Yea, I know, sounds like an old wives tale, but I could not believe how it bailed me out of a similar problem. I never have any luck drilling these things out. I always break bits or get the extractor broken off inside.

Good luck with what ever route you go.

Personally, I would remove the shock and lower A arm from the car and do the work on the bench or take it to a shop if I was not comfortable with the work. Really good access is key to doing a good job.
Rut

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1960 Bugeye,1275, 5 speed
1970 MGB, Pale Primrose
1967 Triumph TR4a
1966 Triumph TR4a
When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life. John Lennon

Me thinks your going to need a new (used) shock arm. Its obvious some are not seeing what you broke.

Dave

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Midgets arn't hard to fix, there just easy to break!

I agree with Dave. I have the tools and a torch and I would give it a try but if rust is what caused the problem in the first place I would cut off the trunnion bolt, remove the shock and send it into Peter Caldwell a World Wide for a replacement. Looks like it might have been leaking anyway. Barring that I would use a combination of drill, easy out, and heat.

Kurt.

If you are planning on changing the shock anyway, and if you were planning on having us supply said shock, stop trying to do what you are planning. Undo the top kingpin nut, and send us the shock with the trunnion attached. we'll get it all apart so that the shock arm wont be destroyed.

Peter C

Peter agrees though his idea of sending the top trunnion is best!

Kurt

Don't loose the trunnion thrust washer and shims in this process.

Kurt.