Encased nuts in topper spinning, how to fix?

[73k5blazer]

Any suggestions for how to fix the nuts encased in the factory fiberglass hard top?

Mines a '73 so it's a full top, the center hold down nut at the front where it bolts to the windshield frame, starting spinning inside the top when I removed this past spring for soft top. I run hard top in winter and soft top in summer.

I'm kinda at a loss as to how to fix that without really making a giant mess of it, basically cut it out, install a new setup in there and re-fiberglass the area, or something. There's gotta be a better way.

 

[Greg72]

http://www.softopper.com/jeep-suv-tops/gmc-jimmy-gen2




-G

 

[73k5blazer]

http://www.softopper.com/jeep-suv-tops/gmc-jimmy-gen2




-G

I have an original STC top, which is nice. Summer time, I love the soft top. BUt in winter, soft top doesn't cut it. I like the hard top.

 

[Stein]

I've never seen a top off, but could it be possible to have the top off, get a bolt threaded into the nut to pull it down, drill one or two small diameter holes next to where the nut is and then take a syringe and inject two part epoxy into the little holes on the edge of the nut to glue it in place? Basically like welding the nut to a plate if you had access to it. The holes could be pretty tiny - just enough to get a large gauge needle into.

 

[Greg72]

I have an original STC top, which is nice. Summer time, I love the soft top. BUt in winter, soft top doesn't cut it. I like the hard top.

I can't think of an "easy" way to repair a damaged / spinning captive nut... ultimately, you need to remove the fiberglass material to get access.

If you wanted to jerry-rig it a bit, you might be able to drill out the spinning nut so it doesn't interfere anymore. Then fabricate a VERY thin steel plate that can be flush-mounted to the underside of that fiberglass mounting flange with some kind of countersunk screws or rivets. You can weld a new nut to one side so that you have a new place to thread the bolts into....

-G

 

[FAB454]

I've never seen a top off, but could it be possible to have the top off, get a bolt threaded into the nut to pull it down, drill one or two small diameter holes next to where the nut is and then take a syringe and inject two part epoxy into the little holes on the edge of the nut to glue it in place? Basically like welding the nut to a plate if you had access to it. The holes could be pretty tiny - just enough to get a large gauge needle into.

I don't know how well that would work but I like that idea!!

 

[Stein]

Another option would be to get a Nut Plate or Two Lug Anchor Nut. You would have to drill a slightly larger hole to pass the nut through and on the back side of the fiberglass and rivet it in place. The force wouldn't be on the rivets, just the plate.

 

[Chief Brody]

I've never seen a top off, but could it be possible to have the top off, get a bolt threaded into the nut to pull it down, drill one or two small diameter holes next to where the nut is and then take a syringe and inject two part epoxy into the little holes on the edge of the nut to glue it in place? Basically like welding the nut to a plate if you had access to it. The holes could be pretty tiny - just enough to get a large gauge needle into.

What he said, but put a well greased bolt in to keep the threads clean while it dries. That's probably what I would try rather than making a mess of the fiberglass.