To paraphrase John Cowan:
>
> What is the deal when I can turn the little bolts on my TR3A but they won't
>come out?
>
John,
The TR3 is full of captive nuts, small square nuts that sit in a cage.
The cage consists of a piece of metal with two tabs on opposiite ends of
the nuts spot welded to the surrounding metal. If you have yous Moss
catalog handy, look at page 56, there is a drawing.
If the threads of the bolt are rusted or gunked up, much care is needed
when removing. The system works great in theory, but no one ever thought
somebody would be trying to remove the bolts 40 years later!
One of five things happen.
1. Bolt comes out.
2. The nut spins in cage because nut "rounds" off
3. The nut spins because cage deforms, then causes #2
4. The nut spins because spot weld breaks, and the cage swings away
5. The bolt breaks because cage held nut, but bolt too gunked up.
Assuming you have clearance to captive nut, they are pretty easy to
handle. I have had success using a vice grip to squeeze the non-welded
tabs of the cage, then remove the bolt. If the bolt breaks, grab your
trusty screwdriver and small vice grip, and bend the non-welded tab up,
then the nut with the broken remainder of the bolt can be removed. If
you were gentle in that operation, you can insert a new nut and bend the
tab back down.
If you have no clearance to the captive nut, I have resorted to my
trusty grinder, gring off the head of the bolt and then be creative!
If I am reusing any hardware, I pull out my tap and die set and freshen
up the threads. Replacing all hardware with new is recommended, but I
have had good success cleaning up the threads of the captive nuts and
reusing them in situ. YMMV.
You won't get frustrated with this one. The Dzus hood mount has
excellent clearance from the inner wheel well.
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Henry Frye E-mail - thefryes@iconn.net
TR3B TCF1927 L http://www.iconn.net/thefryes/
TR250 CD8096 L A Little Town In
TR250 CD1074 L Connecticut, USA
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