Nuts --- back off

[grady]

Well I mucked things up trying to charge out the otter switch and so my poor wedge is in the shop for the installation of a proper screw-in sender.

And just after I had treated it to a good wax job to go Christmas shopping.

BUT while under the front, I noticed two large and long bolts at either end of the front-most frame tube (threads forward and upward at a 45 degree angle). They appear to go through the tube and body and are capped with a rubber donut and a nut. I assume(?) they help hold the body on. The odd thing is both nuts were backed off so the nut was at the top of the treading and there was about 3/4" between the donut and the car body. The nuts were stiff so I don't think they just back-off evenly.

I assume they should be snugged down against the body but thought I would check with my betters first.

Thanks Grady

[sevans]

I know the ones you mean very well. Mine were corroded into the chassis tubes, one I managed to get out, the other I had to drill out which took hours. I think your right that they are there to support the body, however IIRC the body is quite thin in this area so I'm not sure how much support they really offer. I would have thought that the nuts should be reasonably tight against the bushes. I used these bolts to mount brackets for the radiator when I moved it from the engine bay to the nose. I put nylon spacers between the body and the chassis so it could all be tightened enough to support the brackets.

[grady]

When I get the car back, I'm going to try to snug them down, hopefully the threads are OK as the bolts show no interest in dropping out on their own. And you are correct, the body (fiberglass) is very thin there... enough to make me think of adding a plate on top... but then if the nose didn't fly off when loose, why would it if actually bolted on snugly?