what do i do?

[jeff5347]

I am trying to replace the front spring eye bushings on my 68 camaro multi leaf springs. Problem is on the pass side 2 out of the three bolts come out while one just turns . I know the inside bolt has broken loose asnd i cant reach it to hold it. This has also happened on the driver side with only one bolt coming out and the other 2 just spinning. Any ideas or thoughts on how to get them out. Just so you know i have not torch or anything to heat them up.

[astroracer]

Here are two threads that deal with this problem...
https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10376&highlight=hanger+bolts

https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18255&highlight=hanger+bolts

[bretcopsey]

Grind the bolt head off with a 4" angle grinder. Once the spring and bracket are out of the way you can fish out the remains of the clip nut.

You can also pull the carpet back and drill some access holes from above-but I would not go that route myself. If you don't have an angle grinder, you can pick one up at Harbour Freight for about $10-$15.

[jeff5347]

thanks guys,
appreciate the help. I almost ripped my hair out last night and thought about driling the floor and did not want to hack at the floor. I will just get a grinder, zip em off and get some fasteners. Can you get thre fasteners at a homedepot or lowes or true value. This knowledge makes me much more at ease. Just a side note. I have energy suspension spring eye poly bushings. Will i feel a diff with these from the old 40 year old ones. What about the del alum all metal bushings. Any thoughts?

[bretcopsey]

As for the j-nuts, I have only found the stamped sheetmetal type at Lowe's & Home Depot. The sheetmetal is stamped into a cone shape and only has a couple threads. I feel ok with using these for now during mock up, but would prefer something more substantial for final assembly.

On the bushings, most of what I have read leans towards either staying with rubber or going to solid bushings. Poly has not been mentioned in a favorable light.

GW sells their rear shackle/Del A Lum bushing kit for about $195. I couldn't bear to spend that much on bushings, so I ordered two sets of Competition Engineering spring bushings from Jeg's for about $80. They are solid aluminum with a steel sleeve. The difference compared to the GW's is they have a delrin insert that the steel sleeve rides in as well as delrin washers on each end. My thought was that I could modify my CE bushings to mimic the GW's at a later time if needed.

[6'9"Witha69]

The difference compared to the GW's is they have a delrin insert that the steel sleeve rides in as well as delrin washers on each end.
There is no difference. The GWs have the same. I do not like solid bushings in rear springs as it creates bind in roll. Surprisingly, Rubber works best in the front spring eye w/ Poly in the shackles (my experience).
I have also found blind nuts at local hardware stores which is actually a NUT on a retainer. That is what I run and I am very comfortable with them.

[bretcopsey]

Let me clarify...

The GW's have the delrin insert that the steel sleeve fits into and delrin washers on the ends. The CE's do not have the delrin insert-steel inserted directly into aluminum bushing, nor the delrin end washers.

[jeff5347]

the ones i currently have but havent installed yet are the energy susp poly front bushings for the spring eye. It has a metal sleeve insert. My rearend feels marshmellowy. The rear shackles are already poly energy suspension as i repalced those last year. Would going to energy susp poly spring pads and the energy susp spring eye bushings make the rearend feel firmer or will the m,ushy feeling stay due to the leaf spring design