Three of my cross member nuts that are welded in the frame of the car for the bolts to thread into are stripped. I guess SO many engine and tranny swaps took its toll on them.

I was thinking of somehow welding the thing in and coming up with a different way for it to be removed if needed. Any ideas ?

 

U have to cut open a access window in the side of the subframe rail. With a cutoff tool.
Then you can get in there are remove the old striped nut and weld in a new one with a mig welder.
Then weld a metal patch over the whole u made.
I had to do all 4 of mine. Use a quality stainless bolt or nut.

 

one of mine are stripped also, what if i drill the hole out a tad bigger and then tap it for a larger diameter bolt?

 

I'm in the same boat with two stripped X-member bolts.

I plan to drill them out, tap them to a non-metric thread and loctite in studs all round.

Studs rock. I have ARP cylinder head studs on my 283 and they're great to work with.

 

Heli-Coil them. Don't weld in your X-mem, you will hate yourself in the morning, when you wake up and realize what you have just done.

 

I have to do exactly that.
If you've got 2 or more that are stripped just go with studs all around.

 

there is no need to weld or cut anything, mine stripped too. i drilled them for a 7/16" coarse bolt, i think its a 3/8" drill. You can check the tap. it will literaly take you 20 minutes to fix this and it will be stronger too. put a dab of antiseize on the bolts and resist using an impact wrech and they will last much longer.

 

There's actual nuts that are welded up inside the crossmember? I thought they were just a thin "sleeve" that was tapped, and too large of a tap could cut thru them? Lee Myles (wonderful place) stripped two of mine out, I've just got a v6 so it's not too big of a deal, but still, I want to fix them eventually. Wouldn't cutting an access hole in the framerail (I have a cut off tool and mig welder) weaken the framerail a bit? What kind of steel would I weld in to plug the access hole when I was done?

 

i believe its some sort of a nutplate, i did it to all of mine. Its worked just fine. its not worth cutting holes in the chassis for.

 

Cut a "U" shaped flap that you can bend back after your done.
A normal mild steel sheet metal patch can be migwelded over the
repair hole. The mig weld has a small "heat zone" so the integrity of the "martined steel" frame rail is maintained. This is the recommend way to repair a unibody frame rail. Do not use a torch or stick welder.
The patch should be of the same thickness as the frame sheet metal.
Be sure to paint over your weld and shoot some "Rust Check"

www.rustcheck.com in the holes in the frame rail to stop any corrosion. This will keep the nut from seizing too.

 

Cool, thanks for all the info guys, I'll be doing one of these methods to my car this summer. Odyssey, keep us posted on how you fix it!