FJ40 Door Hinge Capture Nuts?

[VA Mountain FJ40]

While unbolting the lower hinge on a door I was swapping out, two of the bolts decided to just spin. Yes, I did put Kroil on days prior. I had to cut the bolt heads off to get the hinge off the door. Once the bolts began to spin I couldn’t either tighten nor loosen them. The hinge is off the door and the door is off the truck, but two of the lower door hinge holes now have headless bolt shafts stuck in them.

The good news is, the restored door I am putting on the truck has no issues with the six hinge bolts. The door that came off is now a spare door, so it is not an urgent matter. Still, I’d like to understand the process to fix whatever went wrong at the capture nuts.

Can I get at what is behind the hinge bolts through the inside access panel on the door? Has anybody had to deal with this before?

Chip
VA Mountain FJ40

 

[timmyisinthewell]

You didn't indicate what year truck your asking about so I'll show you what you would be up against on a '72. Very limited access to begin with. The three nuts are captured by a metal cage to allow some door adjustment. The cages are welded to a plate welded to the inside outer door skin before door assembly. Your nuts are now spinning within the cage and may have possibly broken the welds loose. I'm sorry I have no advice on a possible or easy fix. Maybe others who have dealt with this will chime in. Good luck with your project.

 

[VA Mountain FJ40]

Thanks Tim. It’s a 67 door. Your second picture showed me all I need to know. I have a couple of ideas about which direction to go in now.
I have experienced that style of capture nut coming loose before on the firewall.

When I get to fiddling with the door, I bet I can use a punch on the bolts with the sawed off heads to knock those two spinning capture bolts loose from the welded plate inside the door skin.

Working on 58 year old trucks that have been in and out of water is interesting and an ingenuity builder.

Thanks for the GREAT answer!
Chip

 

[charliemeyer007]

I would drill out the bolts. The 8mm inserts are nearly 3/4 of an inch long. More than enough to go threw the door skin, plate and nut and have enough sticking out to offset. I would use a permanent adhesive to set them besides a tight fit hole.

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JYNB Metric Rivet Nut Assortment Kit, 105Pcs stainless Steel SAE Rivet Nut, M3 M4 M5 M6 M8 UNC Flat Head Rivnut Set, Threaded Insertion Nut Sets for Automotive, Mechanical and Other Equipment: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

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[pb4ugo]

If you look at the cage, you can pry the sheetmetal flap up that's on the side of the cage and slide the nut out of the cage. The nut is flat stock that is drilled and tapped and floats inside of the cage. You probably need to cut the broken bolt that's in the nut flush to slide it out. I made new nuts out of flat stock. I drilled and tapped the flat stk then cut the flat stk to the dimension of the cage and slid it in the cage and closed the flap. Or McMaster Carr sells caged weld nuts similar to the stk ones. I think it would be difficult to weld the new caged nuts in.