Has anyone ever had this happen to them?
A long time ago I bought the sway bar bushing kit for my 68 chevelle malibu. When I was tightening the mounting bracket bolts both sides ended up stripping out the threaded holes in the frame, of which there was only a small amount of thread there anyhow =/. I ended up cutting a smale hole in the driver's side frame to be able to get a nut onto the bolt, what a pia that was tho. Luckily tho the pass. side had an inspection hole close enough so i didnt have to drill over there too. I guess the rubber bushings were too 'tall' and I should have shaved or cut them somehow. Anyway when it was as tight as i could get it w/ the bolt/nut combo there was still about 1/4" or less of space in between the frame and the mounting bracket, i.e. the bracket wasnt up against the frame. Well, since it was a pain to unbolt that mess I ended up leaving it that way.

Its been like that for years now, just wondering if i'm doing unneeded damage to my suspension having it that way, and what would be a suggestion as to corret the stripped holes?

Currently have the chevelle in the shop getting much needed attention (body/paint/interior) after sitting for 4 years =).

bah, well that'll teach me to ask before i search =P.
Found a good thread:
http://www.chevelles.com/forum/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=006259

Think I'll have the shop redrill them with a larger size to get rid of the nut on the inside of the frame job. =)

I had the exact same problem when I stripped a sway bar hole too. I had to fit my hand in the frame where it starts at the bumper, almost got stuck, and put a nut on it, then I used a wrench to to reach in the frame to get to the nut and luckily there was some holes on the side of the frame because the wrench fell in and I used those holes to push it out. But what was really weird on mine was that the holes didn't line up with the brackets and had to keep on loosening and tightening the bolts to make it fit, 45 min. later I finally got it. I thought it would take me take 15 minutes, but I guess that say goes, "you always run into a problem".

I went in the front with a nut siliconed to a box wrench. Not hard at all.

My Herb Adams sway bar came with these neat little nuts that you insert into new holes, and tighten down a bolt to suck it to the frame. I don't have a name or a source, but it's another option. Any hardware supplier should be able to get the same for you. After cinching the 'nuts' to the frame, you're supposed to tack weld 'em, but I never did, and they never spun or failed.

I'm switching to the Hotchkis bars this time around, and will have to redo the mounts. These nuts would be my first choice based on my previous experience. I searched online, but couldn't find 'em. I'm sure they could be found at a fastener store. I seem to remember they might be called 'weld nuts'...

JR

They're called "nutserts". They're the same type of thing GM put in the floor that the factory exhaust hangers bolt to.

Since I'm going to be wanting some, I did some more research so I didn't sound like an idiot at the fastener store.
http://www.onb-canada.com/product/nuts/sc-nuts.htm

'Self-cinching Blind Press nut' is damned close. Mine had a bit more of a flange for tacking a small weld to prevent them from spinning.
Perhaps this is it
http://www.carbidegrindingco.com/avknutserts.htm

"Rivet Nut" looks more like it, if it fastens by tightening a bolt to cinch it to the backside of the frame material.
Ahhhh, dyno jonn is absolutely right (didn't see his post til right now)...here
http://www.prifast.co.uk/nutserts.htm
this page descibes how they attach.

This from a Camaro site
http://www.theherd.com/articles/swaybar2.html
describes the process of mounting a sway bar to new mounts, much like you describe you need to do, and echoes my comments on how strong they are.
They've held an inch and a 1/4 sway bar in place through some rather rough driving that found weak metal in my stock lower control arms...they hold really well, w/o the hassle of a 'nut'. Hell, it was only 12 years ago that I put it on, and broke my stock lower control arms, but the nuts held!

Enjoy.

JR

Cool, thanks for the links! graemlins/hurray.gif