I mean, just what the hell were they thinking about when the loon pots decided to produce them?

 

Just been TRYING to undo and replace 2 rusty bumper over riders on Moggsy that are held on with these useless pieces of crap.

Rusted solid, and the nut and bolt are just spinning around  now it's half undone, despite liberal amounts of easing oil.

Can't hold the rounded bit with anything as there is very little room behind the over rider.

 

What SHOULD have been a 15 minute job, turned into over an hour of increasingly angry cursing swearing and utter frustration.

Think the spanner and screw driver are buried somewhere down in the garden bushes after I launched them.

 

I've given up for now. I despair.    

Edited 3 June, 201412 yr by Mr Ree

20 years ago they could need a bit of heat on them to get them off,

so still there after all these decades after the car was built shows they were a good idea at the time.

20 years ago they could need a bit of heat on them to get them off,

so still there after all these decades after the car was built shows they were a good idea at the time.

No better than a good ole fashioned proper nut and bolt requiring 2 spanners to remove them.

 

Absolutely insane design, but I don't suppose that was an issue when they fitted them.

Not their future problem.

Meanwhile, I've got two over rider blades rattling around half undone  on the bumper now, agggghhhh!!! 

you do get wound up easily dont you!

you do get wound up easily dont you!

Unlike the coach bolts!

I had this on a Standard 10 bumper, I could just get to the bolt behind the dome head with a super thin Dremel cutting disc and slowly, very bloody slowly! cut through it. Just mask up to prevent spark damage to paint work, and the bumper from the disc.

Chop 'em...

Had this before on an MG where the flats on the bolt which go into the over rider became rounded! In the end it involved me cutting the over rider and getting mole grips on the bolt with a lot of plusgas and it eventually came off!

Holding round headed bolts was exactly what Mole Wrenches were designed for.

I mean, just what the hell were they thinking about when the loon pots decided to produce them?

 

  

 

They were thinking "We can use coach bolts with plain domed chrome heads, then they will look really smart and will convince the man on the Clapham omnibus that we are a hip, trendy forward looking company"   :clap:

Get a Dremel in there son.    It's my Fallback Tool.

+3 for putting a Dremmel through 'em

Edited 3 June, 201412 yr by sparks03

exactly how old are these coach bolts that are on your 43+ year old Moggy? lol

exactly how old are these coach bolts that are on your 43+ year old Moggy? lol

Hard to tell even with car manufacture date as these parts fit so many BL cars that parts would stay on shelves for months and months!

They were thinking "We can use coach bolts with plain domed chrome heads, then they will look really smart and will convince the man on the Clapham omnibus that we are a hip, trendy forward looking company"   :clap:

Trouble is, you can't actually see the domed heads of these infernal things. They are tucked away well inside the over riders.

Can just about get my finger on them.

 

I think I'm going to have to actually chop them to get at the domed  bolt head to get my moly's onto them.

So frustrating for what should be such a simple job.

exactly how old are these coach bolts that are on your 43+ year old Moggy? lol

53 actually, but I suspect these were fitted a bit more recently.

Holding round headed bolts was exactly what Mole Wrenches were designed for.

My thoughts exactly......................WHEN I can actually get a pair of moly's onto them. 

I think the general consensus is that it will have to be cut off, iirc they aren't too bad at all to remove if you wanted to ensure you didn't catch body etc

I'm not even going to tell you about the other disaster I had this afternoon........oh go on then...........drilled a hole on the n/s door to fit a new mirror that I bought 6 months ago from a source I cannot remember now....a show i think, and it's only for the o/s door in'it !!!!!   

It says N/S on the box too!

 

All in all, not the most constructive of afternoons. 

Edited 3 June, 201412 yr by Mr Ree

If you can see the head of the coach bolts why not just drill the heads off like you would a rivet if you carn't get to the side of the bolts to get a set of mole grips on

If you can see the head of the coach bolts why not just drill the heads off like you would a rivet if you carn't get to the side of the bolts to get a set of mole grips on

Can't. That's the problem.

 

Well buried in the cavity of the inner part of the overider behind the retaining bracket.

Can just about touch it with my finger tip. Absolutely zero room for any  tools.

 

Absolute 'mare' of a thing.

Edited 3 June, 201412 yr by Mr Ree

Take the bumper off and attack it with heat from behind?

Take the bumper off and attack it with heat from behind?

Now that's a plan.

 

Probably find the bumper is held on with rusted coach bolts too! 

Unlike the coach bolts!

Coach bolts rock, especially in theatre land.

They don't make a whole lot of sense inside an over-rider (except for maybe stock rationalisation) but they make way more sense than hex heads (or Allen sets, Torx sets (and yes I know Torx wasn't even invented back then)...) on a plain steel bar.