INFO: Broken Cross Member End Nuts/Hardware

Take a sawzall with metal cutting blade and cut the bolt head off flush with cross member so you can remove it and the nut inside the frame, then weld an 1/8" thick piece of flat stock(gusseted where needed) to a new corresponding nut that fits the new bolt, just make sure the flat stock/nut will fit into the access hole. Make sure to leave enough length on the flat stock so it will "wedge" against inside of frame while tightening the bolt. Back in "bidness", no problem.

Edited by aquartlow - 07-January-2017 at 2:48PM

Torch the bolts carefully, or centerpunch and drill the heads off like cutting a rivet.

Edited by Big Bird - 08-January-2017 at 2:23AM

OK, I'll check the front upper arms and see what size box wrench will fit that nut, as I cannot determine  what size wrench to bend! Hopefully its the same as the cross member nut. If this does not work, I'll use the saws-all, something I did not want to do.

just grind the head off, remove the crossmember and fish the junk nuts out of the frame.

I had to bend the wrench a bit to make it work.

As I looked at Mike's pictures, I realized that mine were different. I had short bolts dropped in from above with nuts and lockwashers on the bottom. Someone had probably pre-broken these and substituted bolts.

mtburger wrote: I am pretty sure that was a 1972 year only thing. The 1973 and forward frames have the "Ears" welded on each side, and the crossmember sits on top of them, with the bolts. This crossmember is bolted right into the frame rail as pictured, there is no place to put a wrench. The clips are the same as the ones used to mount the front bumper brackets to the frame on the 73 up cars. Mike H.

i agree with mike

My early '73 has the bolt/clip through the frame also. Later '73s made the change to frame "ears".

Did chase this a bit. Mine has the correct crossmember, but I have the wrenches I bent to reach in the holes...

if you figure out the size, just get a single cheap wrench from harbor freight the heat and bend
 yes the nut thing on a 73 up bumper bracket are the same.

I can't guarantee the factory bolts were 7/8" heads as the current bolts came from a hardware store.

Yes, the nuts are 7/8', but as you can see in the photos, the swedging(sp) on the nut will not allow a 12 point socket to fit, it will just spin! Only a 6 point 7/8" socket will fit with a small breaker bar, if you are lucky, and suggest trying a deep sock too as the bolt may be too tall for a short socket. After much efort, I could not get it to work so I had the bolts torched off. Now way to get a wrench, open end or box, into the access hole unless you massively enlarge the access hole; not recommended. The bolts are 9/16 - 12tpi. I made temporary nuts and bolts to get the GTS back on the road, will make a new set using the correct size nut/bolt and perhaps put the welded tang on the bolt head and point it down with the nut outside...but?

 Auveco says they do not make the clips.  









Edited by fordismyboss - 16-February-2017 at 4:39AM

What started this thread was the need to replace the tail shaft bushing in the GTS C4. I supported the tranny with a transmission jack at the pan, unbolted the cross member support and let it lay on the exhaust pipes and carefully removed the tail shaft so as not to damage the original gasket. I used a 1/2" drive socket, turned upside down, that was a bit smaller than the bushing and drove it out the end of the tail shaft. I used another 1/2" drive socket that was just a bit larger than the bushing and drove it in from the outside end of the tail shaft. I just lubed the new bushing and housing very well and it went right in.

Here is the old bushing showing where the yoke was running a grove in the bushing.


I used scotch bright and WD40 to polish the yoke before I reinstalled it in the new bushing below.


After a good long test drive, I let the GTS sit over night and no leaks!

Took me a while to complete this thread, but I could not get anything 7/8, wrench, socket, or a wedge inside the frame to secure the nut, so I had the bolts torched off. I made two smaller temporary nuts with flanges that work well, but then I took the original nuts and bolts off my '73 Montego donor car and made these:

 

 

They are 9/16-12 factory bolts with a flange welded on. I'll put the bolt inside the frame which is reverse from 1972 stock, but will perhaps allow for a jam nut. 

That is just about what I had to do as well. The only difference, I welded the nut in the center of the drilled out flat stock. Painted it and Anti-siezed the sucker.