Great Snapped Bolt on Control Arm! Now what?!?!

[brivers]

After reading I see you have a welder. Well hears a trick I've used many times with success.Get a flat washer thats just a little smaller than the bolt and hold it against the bolt. Weld the washer to the bolt. Try not to weld to the nut or whatever is used as the nut. If the broken stud is reccessed than first concave the washer a bit with a ball pean hammer. Then weld a nut to the washer. If theres not enough room than weld a bigger washer on the smaller washer first. If still not big enough weld bigger one on that one. When you go to remove it use an impact wrench on low setting. Be patient. If it breaks off repeat process. Important to use an Impact wrench. I've been welding for many years, this works. If you can somehow heat up the nut (not the bolt) before attempting to impact it out it will do wonders. By the way forget about welding to the easy out or drill bit, they're hardened steel and unweldable. Good luck.

[dwendt1978]

One question I have is, with the fuel lines about 3-4 inches away, is it safe to weld that close?

I'm going to try and have a bracket made at work that will look about like this.



It's about 2 inches long by 3/4" inches wide with a nut welded on it. Should be able to slide that in, tighten it down and then drill a hole on each side of it (through frame) and fill in the holes with weld (to hold it in place). Once I grind down the welds, you shouldn't be able to tell I ever did anything.

[GM Line Rat]

Just get a piece of aluminum shield, non flamable material etc.. to cover the fuel lines area before you start welding and temp hold it in place somehow?. And DISCONNECT your battery cables also before you start welding on a car!!! Cars the ECM's /PCM's (Onboard Computers) dont like Voltage spikes like those from welders!..... It can easily damage them! Otherwise, it looks like you've got the situation in hand with the setup you have come up with!

[brivers]

Yes, its safe to weld near the fuel line, as long as its full of fuel and you don't hit it with the arc. This washer way is a lot less invasive. If it fails you can still go at it with your bracket which is also a good idea. You know the can of worms theory, you don't know how bad its going to stink until you open it. Good luck.

[G.A.S.]

I think you did a fine job.
welding near a fuel line is ok as long as you dont punture the line.
go with the sugestion of a piece of metal or something to sheild the heat.
From what I can see, you dont need to weld that fabd. part in there. the lenght should be plenty for installation and future removal if need be.
again, fine job.

[dwendt1978]

This is the actual bracket thats all welded up and ready to go!

I'll document everything with pics for everyone else.

[sbiddle]

A previous poster suggested just welding the control arm in place. What are the chances you'd ever have to take the thing apart again? Are you planning on keeping your Metro for life?

[dwendt1978]

No, just want to do it right. But I'll keep it as long as I can!

[dwendt1978]

Well, IT WORKED!!!!

I cut out the frame rail about 1" x 2" using a dremel tool with the little cut off disc. You'd be suprised on how thick a little Metro frame is. Took about 5 minutes and 2 discs.


Then I pulled out the factory welded nut that snapped off (it's quite large and square) and trial fitted my fabricated piece in there. Fit like a glove.


Next I took the control arm bracket and fit it into place to see if I could get it to snug down. Not a problem.


Next pics I do will be of welding the piece to the frame back in and grinding down the welds to see if I can get it to look factory again. Sorry, I'm anal that way.
This was only possible because of all the input on this site!! Thanks guys!

[shortcircuit]

Very Nice looking good maybe you can come over and work some magic on my A arm.I fully understand the anal part get that way myself,good job!!.

[dwendt1978]

Still working on it. The control arm front mounting bracket is stuck in the bushing of the control arm. So hopfully I can take it to work and our garage can press it out for me.

I got it out of the control arm with the dang bushing still on it. I'm going to pick up some Ospho (rust nuetralizer) to go on the frame and then prime and paint it.

I know it's alot of work but while I'm in there might as well do it to it!!

[human ills]

They make drill bits that are reverse flute, that is you put your drill in reverse in order for it to cut like a regular bit. What happens is that as you drill bigger and bigger holes, the bolt starts backing out. Very old school. Look into it.
I would say that you messed up by heating it. There are two ways that I know of that heating works. One is to heat the seized fastener, male and female, in order to break up the contamination. But you have to let it cool all the way back down in order for this to work.
The other way is to quickly heat the female (nut) side of the equation and quickly break the fastener free before the heat has a chance to spread to the male (bolt) part. You want the hole to grow, not the bolt.
I've had success beating on the seized fastener and working the bolt back and forth until it gave way.
You CAN get the bolt out w/o resorting to cutting the whole deal out and welding in new threads, and I'd focus on that. Maybe you can get some vise grips on the back side?

[dwendt1978]

This is the final deal. I got the control arm in and torqued it to specs. Not before sandblasting everything and repainting. Once that was done I installed the new control arm. I haven't gotten to grinding down my welds yet as I've lost my 4.5" grinder! But everything worked as planned and she's back on the road! Thanks Boys!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shortcircuit]

Nice Job!!

[GM Line Rat]

Looks Good my Man! This whole project reminds me of when I changed out both of my Front lower A Arms on the Metro. I didn't have any rust to deal with and all the bolts came out easy.......But once I got the Brand New PS Arm COMPLETLY Installed and suspension together......I Looked real closely at the rubber boot for the lower ball joint, only to see that it was slightly torn, right where it meets the arm! And now that the ball joint was hooked up, grease was slighly leaking out of the boot.. . And these boots you DONT replace, you replace the whole A-Arm on these Metros..... .