cage nut goes down. You suck cage nut.

[ida34]

With the winch installed I wanted to get started on replacing the passenger side fender on my deuce. Everything went fairly well. Only had to cut three bolts. Two were stripped and the nuts would not come off. The top two cage nuts were no problem but the one on the bottom moved a bit but locked up. I learned long ago that rusted bolts and nuts are best removed intact by unscrewing a bit then screwing it in a bit to clean the threads out. This strategy did not work with the lower cage nut and pretty soon the nut began turning. I had to cut the requisite access hole. I then cut the head off the bolt and was able to remove the rest of the cage nut. I plan to cut another cage nut off the rusty fender then weld it in. I also had a small patch to do on the new fender as well as welding some stress cracks. After the cage nut is fixed I will need to weld up the access hole. I hope to weld the stuff up tomorrow night after work. As for today, I treated everything with rust converter. After the welding tomorrow I will prime and paint with CARC or some leftover RAPCO Carc substitute. I then plan to paint the front end and outside cab of the truck before winter sets in.

This thread is useless without pictures but I did not take any. Maybe tomorrow.

The cage nuts are little B*tches.

 

[derby]

I have been in your shoes also. just when you think you have it, it lets loose and spins like a 3/8 bolt in a 5/8 hole. I don't know why they don't put a couple plugs in the cab floor. or do away with the cage nut and weld two nuts to a strip of metal that fit's in there.

 

[OPCOM]

I spent an hour with a hacksaw blade in-hand on a fender cage nut. The bolt, actually.

 

[m16ty]

Been there, done that. My fix was to cut the hole in the end of the tube frame. I them welded a standard 3/8" nut to a washer. I could then stick the nut with the washer welded to it on the back side and weld the washer to the cab from the outside. Alot stronger than the cage nuts.

 

[ida34]

I did see your post. I may do this if the cage nut from the old fender does not work out.

 

[Barrman]

I feel your pain. Actually, my Gasser had 14 captured nuts that needed to be removed and fixed.

 

[jimmcld]

You might try "Nutcerts". They go in like a pop-rivet and have a nut on the back side. I've had mixed luck with them. If everything lines up good, they work good. If anything is a little off, they don't work at all.

 

[ida34]

The whole in the panel is way to big for the nutcert. I have them and was thinking about it but I would need to weld in a panel and put "rivet" in the new metal. Welding in a donor capture nut seems like the path of least resistance and I will not have to buy anything.

 

[ida34]

Here are pics of the problem and the solution to get the nut out. When I start on putting it back together I will post more pics.