Body / Glass: Update on removing the Phllips screws on door hinges (done!) and additional question (trouble)

[bsrosell]

Thanks again for all the good tips on removing the screws from the hinges on my '57 Golden Hawk doors! As suggested, I bought the Lisle impact screwdriver, #4 tip, heated screws with Oxy torch, "tightened" before trying to loosen, some paste on the tip.... Got ALL 9 of them!
One problem: lower passenger hinge, bottom screw, instead of unscrewing, it broke the nut off inside the 'pillar box', so I had to drill the Phillips head off to remove the hinge.
Please see attached photos: one is of the passenger hinge area, where lower screw nut is 'gone'. Other photo is firewall side, where the front fender screw nut had ALSO broken off earlier. Since this area is also rusted, I am thinking of making a template over the top (before cutting anything) to properly RELOCATE the fender screw nut, then cutting out the rusted area, just large enough so I can weld a new nut on the INSIDE for the hinge screw. Then, make a little patch, with fender screw nut welded on the back, and weld the patch in place again on the front. Can't think of any other way to do it all on that one. (any other suggestions?) .
But the third photo is the Driver's side, all solid, but fender screw nut broke off there too. Here, I thought about just filing out the square hole to fit a new square nut, and weld it in place, leaving the sheet metal alone. Sound right? Boy, was it nice to finally see those screws budge. ALL of them were buggers, but they all (well, 8 of 9) came out! Would have been a real mess if I'd done it the way I'd planned without asking here first. The fourth photo shows doors off, ready to start removing rockers and small part of the front floors. Progress! Thanks again.
Barry

[tbirdtbird]

Congrats! Well done! Been there done that. Your plan for the nuts/rust should work well. You obv. have some good MIG/fab skills. Good luck, post more pix, they will help the next person

[bsrosell]

thanks. Unfortunately, I am just beginning to use my new Mig, was able to take four of the eight welding classes I paid for at the community college between business travel, and am "just competent enough' to be dangerous and leave lots of clean-up/grinding work behind, I fear. But, on paper, this method is the only way I can see how to do it 'right', so have to learn sometime.

[garyash]

If you need the nuts in nut cages, you can get them from Precision Coachworks in Billerica, MA. It's hard to find these on their web site (www.precisioncoachworks.com), but they are in the Products slide show.

[Jeff_H]

I did pretty much the same as you are proposing with my '53 on the passenger side. Once the rusted floor bits are cut away, you will have access to the inside of the A post from the bottom. The floor panel goes under the post and forms its bottom. Hopefully, the bottom of your post is solid or else you will need to cut part of it away and make a patch. That is what I had to do. Tip: weld a new nut to a large washer first up on your work bench where its easy to do it and then you can secure that to the post in position by installing the hinge (for getting things aligned right). Use a shorter screw or stack washers on it so its not sticking out past the nut inside. That way weld spatter won't stick to the threads and prevent getting it back out!!

[gordr]

The cage nuts are the way to go. Because the nut is a little loose in the cage, it is free to align itself to the screw, which is important with hinge screws, since they have the tapered head which has to center itself in the tapered hole in the hinge face.

Buy the ready-made ones, if time permits, or simply make your own, which I have done on several occasions. Getting hard to find 5/16" NF square nuts, though. But you could always make those, too.

[jclary]

The cage nuts are the way to go. Because the nut is a little loose in the cage, it is free to align itself to the screw, which is important with hinge screws, since they have the tapered head which has to center itself in the tapered hole in the hinge face.

Buy the ready-made ones, if time permits, or simply make your own, which I have done on several occasions. Getting hard to find 5/16" NF square nuts, though. But you could always make those, too.

I agree with Gord on this. You basically have three options. Cage nuts, Riv nuts (A threaded rivet that requires a Riv nut tool for installation) or just weld a nut on the back side of the pillar. I have used all three. Using a riv nut or welding a nut makes it a "fixed" affair and you'd better be on your "A" game when welding one of these in place. The caged nut is a bit more forgiving and a whole lot less frustrating when bolting everything back together.

[jimmijim8]

Gord is right. Do it right. cheers jimmijim

[jg61hawk]

Look at the NEW Stude International Catalog....pages 152 and esp 153. They are listing NEW Cowl panels for K cars. Also new fiewalls, and NEW DOORS. I can't believe it. You should LOOK HERE!

[starliner62]

I can think of lots of nuts around here that need to be in cages.

[bsrosell]

Gary,
this is great!!! I had no idea where to even start looking for these, and as others noted, will be SO much better than my sub-par plan of welding in a nut. I had not even thought of the "caged" aspect, but even for having that nice flange to weld. And with my welding 'skills', I need all the help on getting good welds put down as I can get :- )
Thanks to all for the good advice.
Barry

If you need the nuts in nut cages, you can get them from Precision Coachworks in Billerica, MA. It's hard to find these on their web site (www.precisioncoachworks.com), but they are in the Products slide show.