Rear wheel arch liner removal - stud spinning
 

The rear wheel arch liners are held in place by 1 screw and 4 plastic nuts (#11 here). The nuts screw on to captive studs - 3 of them come off easily but the 4th (in the position arrowed below) doesn't because the stud spins with the nut.

The other end of the stud (it might be a bolt) is hidden and can't be reached to stop it spinning. :banghead::banghead::banghead:

Has anyone found a solution to this problem?

https://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/for...3f8380f651.jpg

I read a post by someone with the same problem last week, now I can't find it again.

Plan A - be patient and wait for ideas.
Plan B - rip the liner off by force. :devil:

Plan C - waste 3 hours trying everything under the sun, then give up and chop the whole thing off with this (stud and all). That told it - and very satisfying it was too. ;)

Stupid design by a stupid designer. :rant::rant:

I've no particular experience of this but try..............




1.insert a thin bladed flat screwdriver between the nut and the liner and push in hard to press it against the bolt.This might hold the bolt just enough to turn the nut.
2.Split the nut by cutting into it with a Dremel (other small rotary tools are available)
3.Grind the nut away with a grindstone in your drill
4. if the end of the bolt is proud of the nut, cut a slot in it so you can hold it with a screwdriver.
5. if not, drill into the end of the bolt and hope the "bite" of the drill bit will hold against the spanner.

Thanks Malcolm but I tried most of those and failed.

1. Doesn't work - the stud spins no matter how hard you lever against it with the screwdriver (I tried both sides of the liner). Trim tools don't work either. The thread is (was) so rusted it's practically vanished.

2. I don't have a Dremel. I tried a mini hacksaw blade instead and couldn't do it.

3. I couldn't get the drill in the right position because this stud is in a recessed corner of the liner.

4 & 5. No chance with these - the end of the stud is far too rusted and is more like a point than a flat surface.

This other end of this stud is impossible to get to - I think it's sandwiched between two sheets of metal. Even if I had managed to get the nut off the stud would still be spinning.

Looking at the body panel illustrations in RAVE, it would appear that there is only a single skin around the rear wheel arch area.

Have you tried looking at the inside of the boot behind the area of interest?

If you lie on the floor with your head behind the rear tyre, you'll see the closest subframe mounting bolt - the stud is almost directly above this spot. It's fixed into the strengthening 'girder' that runs towards the rear bumper. The head of the stud is hidden inside this girder- it can't be seen from the boot (or anywhere else).

You need to take the liner off to get a good view of the stud position - not that you can do that because the stupid thing will start spinning! If they'd protected the thread with a domed plastic nut it might have been alright - but they didn't. :mad::mad:

Hot soldering iron or side cutters and remove nut?
Super glue/epoxy in attempt fix stud to metal from inside of wheel arch?

A hot soldering iron might have got the nut off (I didn't think of that) but the thread on the stud was too shot anyway. I'll photograph the offcut later and post a pic here. Even if the thread was ok there's no way it'll glue back on and stay there.

I tried side cutters (big ones) and they barely scratched it. Those nuts are made of tough stuff.

Here's the offcut (centre & left) with one of the nuts that did come off (right).

https://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/for...6adb37b580.jpg


Here's the offending stud (what's left of it after the oscillating multi-tool). I've got no idea what that other thing to the right is, unless it's a spacer to stop the liner flapping against the metalwork. Liner is off here, obviously.

https://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/for...6adb30842e.jpg


This is a wider shot to show the position of the stupid stud. The fuel line guard cover thing is off - and the same thing happened with some of those nuts!

https://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/for...6adb34c36c.jpg

:}

Double check what's behind the wheel arch in that area, drill out the snapped stud fixing add rive nut then use bolts to fix after, if you prefer a nut instead use a bit of all thread in the rive fixing.