Thread: Don't let your door hinge bolts rust!

Originally Posted by mojo

So I finally got around to replacing my hinge bolts over the weekend, with a stainless steel set from the UK. Pretty much all of the old bolts were rusted to some degree, some just on the head, others all the way down the full length of the bolt.

Unfortunately, one was rusted so badly it had seized to the nut - the bolt was turning, but the nut (which was supposed to be captive) was turning with it! Worse still, this particular bolt was connected to the A pillar, so there was no way we could get to the other side to try and grip the nut and stop it turning. Doh!

We ended up using a hole saw to cut through the inside of the A pillar so we could get to the seized nut, but even then couldn't get the nut off. So eventually we drilled the head of the bolt and pulled the rest of the bolt and nut through from the inside.

The hole we made gets covered by the inside trim, but I'm still a bit upset we had to do it. Was there anything else I could have tried, or any other way to get inside the A pillar? We had a good look around a couldn't find any way to get to the nut, other than drilling the hole.

Anyway, I think the moral of the story is, once you see some rust appearing on your bolts, change them ASAP. I procrastinated for a few years, and paid the consequences ...

The answer is simple, especially with old english cars where there are a lot of joints in metal sheets and hindges. Just buy a few bottles of WD40 when they are on sale.
Apply it onto hindges and let it slip into the cervices, do that often and they will never cease up.
I had a 1995 Mini Cooper bought new, and I discover a few rust bubbles on the lower of the door skin after 3 yrs of ownership, even when the car was parked indoors in a safe spot (English Made!) That was to my surprise and did not expect that in a new car,
I immdeiately start spraying the car in all cervices with wd40 weekly in all possible rust spots including the inside of the door skin, where the rust spots were. ( I do not want to spoil the original paint by repairing the few bubbles)
When I get to sell the car in BNE (took to Aus from Hong Kong) in 2008, the first person who come bought it , as the car is just rust free and with original factory paint, showroom condition
So thats the cheapiest way to fight rust but you have to do it regularly

Originally Posted by mojo

So I finally got around to replacing my hinge bolts over the weekend, with a stainless steel set from the UK. Pretty much all of the old bolts were rusted to some degree, some just on the head, others all the way down the full length of the bolt.

Unfortunately, one was rusted so badly it had seized to the nut - the bolt was turning, but the nut (which was supposed to be captive) was turning with it! Worse still, this particular bolt was connected to the A pillar, so there was no way we could get to the other side to try and grip the nut and stop it turning. Doh!

We ended up using a hole saw to cut through the inside of the A pillar so we could get to the seized nut, but even then couldn't get the nut off. So eventually we drilled the head of the bolt and pulled the rest of the bolt and nut through from the inside.

The hole we made gets covered by the inside trim, but I'm still a bit upset we had to do it. Was there anything else I could have tried, or any other way to get inside the A pillar? We had a good look around a couldn't find any way to get to the nut, other than drilling the hole.

Anyway, I think the moral of the story is, once you see some rust appearing on your bolts, change them ASAP. I procrastinated for a few years, and paid the consequences ...

I forgot to mention, after start spraying th e inside of door skin where the bubbles are, it just stop spreading and was the same size from 1998 till 2008 when I sold the car.

This is a very common issue on older land rovers - on my Series 2a's the best course of action I have found is first try an Impact driver, then hit it with the drill. Once the head of the screw is off then it's easy from there.

Those captive nuts are a PITA even when not rusted. The drill is your friend!

Hi,

Timely warning - I was thinking of swapping my door bolts (S3) with new stainless steel bolts but have yet to get around to it. Your experience has suggested that I rethink my priorities. I bought a new racing bike a couple of years ago and the captive nut for one of the water bottle carriers turned in the frame when the carrier was being installed - what an ordeal that turned out to be to get it fixed......

Back to Land Rovers, I happened to remove the door tops the other day to fit new channels and a reglazing kit to each and was surprised to see how poor the condition of the four retaining bolts was. A clean up with a wire brush and some grease will probably be enough there, but anything with captive nuts inside the bulkhead certainly needs consideration. Especially here in SEQ where tools, gate latches, bike parts etc simply rust in front of your eyes.

Cheers,

Are people using anything in the way of a jointing compound (eg Duralac) when fitting stainless bolts or are they OK just bare?

Steve

Loctite Anti-seize or if you dont like the taste Tef-Gel Duralac dries out where Tef-gel stays soft magic for boats

Originally Posted by Ancient Mariner

Loctite Anti-seize or if you dont like the taste Tef-Gel Duralac dries out where Tef-gel stays soft magic for boats

Interesting about Duralac. I've had it on many bolts for about 1 year now so I can't comment on long term durability but none have cracked or anything yet. They are all done up pretty tight though.

The Duralac is good where you bolt something on to stay but if you remove it you have to re apply for best results .The Tef-Gel will still be sticky exy tho

AM