Rover 75 - Seized and broken suspension pinchbolt
 

Hi all

I have a small problem in that I am in the process replacing the front shocks on my 75 CDTi but the lower pinchbolt (drivers side) has caused some problems.

The head of the bolt had been mullered by previous works in a garage so I purchased a replacement in advance thinking that it would be troublesome but straightforward to replace. Unfortunately not! The bolt was completely seized and I only succeeded in snapping off the head of the bolt in the 6 hours trying to free it. I have finally removed the suspension today but only by cutting through the bolt using the narrow gap in the bracket.

I am now faced with two halves of a bolt, both still stuck in place and both being completely seized.

Liberal use of WD40 has had no effect nor has heat or severe hitting. I had hoped that I could free the non-threaded end of the bolt by driving a wedge into the gap of the bracket and forcing it out, but this only appear to force open the bracket. I have also failed to remove the threaded end of the bolt as nothing seems to grip the small exposed end and I run the risk of rounding this off completely.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I've drawn a blank and I can't refit the new suspension until the bolt is removed and replaced.

Many thanks

You need to use plusgas or something very similar on nuts and bolts, not wd40.
You will probably end up having to either drill the broken bolt out or replace the hub.

Plenty of heat, I have had this happen and getting it hot is the only way to remove it.

You’re going to need to drill out the threaded portion, by drilling and using a stud extractor. Once this is out you should be able to get the other part out by knocking it out with a drift through the hole you’ve just cleared.
It’s a common problem on many cars this bolt seizing when it’s threaded into the hub. Early BMW Minis were like this and they changed the design on the MK2s (R56) to a nut and bolt which is much less prone to seizing.

Thanks for the quick responses. I'll get some plusgas in the next day or two and prepare to attack the problem next weekend with plenty more heat and gentle persuasion.

Hopefully the nearside will be more straightforward - I had previously loosened all the bolts and this side was OK... but I won't hold my breath...

Cheers

you are not alone :} Sorry if this is a silly question , but for best grip have you tried a small stilson wrench on the threaded end ? Worked for me , as per here : https://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/for...ght=pinch+bolt
Also , the hammering required to remove the shank half of the bolt is indeed severe ; 4 lb hammer is a minimum !

don't be frightened to heat the hub, may need 5 minutes with a blow torch which seems a life time.

if you drill the end of the bolt you may be able to bang in a tight fitting allan key and use this as you would a spanner but if you have used a blow torch this will be hot so use leather gloves don't grab it bare handed

macafee2

Turn it into a ten minute job by drilling it right out and fitting a nut and bolt when re-assembling.
That way you don't even need to worry about thread damage if trying to unscrew it. Having no thread= having no damage.---;)

Plus gas and a blowtorch are the Devils tools.--:devil::devil::devil::devil::devil:

Tapping the head of the recalcitrant bolt with a piece of flat steel between the bolt head and hammer can sometimes shock and partially break the rust bond.





Also a little heat might help the plus gas to penetrate a little further down the corroded threads.

Heat followed by cooling with the plus gas creates an internal suction ( Low pressure area) that draws the plus gas in.--:D

Hi again

Many thanks for the inputs so far. As an update - Plus Gas purchased and liberal quantities used together with heat and a fair bit of hitting. No joy as yet but I am going to win - definitely not going to let a 3" bolt beat the might of a human bean. Mini Stilson on order to try and remove the threaded section on Friday.

I've tried drilling through the bolt but have only penetrated about 4 millimeters so far using 3No. Dewalt cobalt tipped drill bits. Can anyone recommend a "nothing is too hard" drill bit that would have a chance of drilling into this thing?

Many thanks again