I need advice on a couple of problems with my crash pad. I made a
series of mistakes that have got me thoroughly depressed and just
about defeated. I wanted to replace the crash pad rather than just
cover it with a plastic overlay. But, without realizing it, I
ordered the overlay. Apparently there is no pad replacement. Well,
I didn't catch my mistake until I had already removed the old pad
completely. When I discovered that there was no pad replacement in
the catalogs, I decided to just use the overlay; it seemed to fit
nicely. This morning I tried to reinstall the whole crash pad with
the overlay glued on. What a bear of a job! I couldn't get the pad
to go in far enough toward the glass or to lay flat enough on the
mounting surface. Finally, I used a big C clamp to to pull the pad
down far enough to start a nut on one stud bolt that projects down
from the metal pad frame through a slot in the mounting surface.
After that I was able to get all 6 nuts started, but I still couldn't
get the pad pushed in far enough to get the vent slots to align
properly. I figured that if I tightened the pad down more, I could
then try to force the whole thing back further. In doing that I
tightened 2 of the nuts too far and the studs started turning with
the nuts. Now the pad is down tight on the mounting surface and
cannot be budged. What's even worse is that I can't slacken the
2 nuts because the studs just rotate with them. I think what I need
to do is get the damn thing off and then reinsert it at a steeper
angle to get it deep enough and THEN try to flatten it out. But,
how do I get these nuts off? There is no way to get to the tops of
the studs without cutting through the pad down to its metal frame, so
how do I hold the studs while I turn the nuts? The only thing I can
think of trying is to thread another nut on each stud (there is about
1/4 inch below the first nut), grab the new nut with a vise-grip and
pull down hard while I use a wrench on the upper nut. If that
doesn't work I'm at a loss. Honestly, I don't think I could get my
Dremel tool in the right position to do any cutting under there.
So my questions to you are:
1) Is there another way to try to get the nuts off?
2) Assuming I do get the nuts off, what is the best way to get the pad
back in place?
I would REALLY appreciate any and all advice. But PLEASE don't tell me
that I shouldn't have taken the pad off in the first place! Jeez I
wish I could get a "do-over" on the whole thing!
Thanks,
Tim Gaines
Clinton, SC
1980 Spitfire
1974 TR6
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