[Jim_66SS]

A few years back a previous owner had removed the body mounts and put in some home made concouction of a rubber mount at various body mount position. When he did this he made holes in the trunk to get at the two mounts there as I suppose the cage nuts couldn't be loosened or spun. As a result he made holes and used some short of fibers and filler to fill the area.

I deceided a couple of years ago to put in the correct body mounts, so had to get access to the nuts which were no longer cage nuts, so I had to cut an access .

Any ideals of what to do to make this look better. There are not cage nuts in there, so may need to access in the future; but could just remove the type of patch i put in there.

What should I do to patch this area and what type of patch and how do I do it. No previous body experience on my part; but will try. Thanks.

 

[Jimmy P]

Can you spot weld the existing nuts? If so, that's what I would do, then patch the holes permantly by welding a patch in each one.

 

[happygounlucky86]

I doubt your going to be able to get in there to weld a nut. Do it right, Since its cut up anyways. i Would cut a larger "C" shape in the sheet metal, peel it back, and weld in a new cage nut.

http://www.ss396.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=chevellecamino&Product_Code=BCN-716

When done, spray some primer in there and weld it closed. The hardest part would be getting the paint to match.... or you could just re- spray the entire pan.

 

[rubadub]

Heres a cage nut in a floor support. You mentioned no body work experience. So you can try and make something like this.

If you can discipline yourself to make things like they were meant to be originally, after all your trail and error you will get better at it.

Then when your skills have improved to the level that you aren't afraid to tackle just about anything, that is the point in your learning process that you will be able to cut corners.

You never know, a bit down the road, we could be asking for your opinions. Heres some pictures I had.

I took a picture of the cage nut because people keep asking about them on different
forums, so I figured I'd put this on the site so I can refer them to what one looks like.
There is a square nut underneath that cage, but they usually have a broken bolt sticking
in them. Anyway when you go to fix them, the side of the cage that holds the square
nut will be torn. Because one side is out, the nut will spin. Usually to get at these
it's best to go through from the inside of the car through the floor. There is normally
a hump in the floor where the cage nut is located. If you cut an "L" shaped hole in the
floor about 1/8" deep you can peel it back like a can opener, take your cut off wheel
or Dremel cut off wheel and cut the cage open a little more and get the nut out.

Once you get the frozen bolt out of the nut it's best to run a tap through it, then
put it back in the cage, bend the sides up or weld a little piece of metal in there,
whatever, but make sure that the nut will move around in there without spinning
around and around.

Another view of the cage with the nut inside of it.

 

[ssal396]

Is it the pic or is that trunk SLATHERED with bondo???? Before you could weld in any kind of patch, all that bondo is going to have to go..

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

I cut mine with a hole saw, saved the inserts, replaced the cage nuts and my body shop welded the cage nut frame and hole back up. Looks perfect. If done right hopefully the cage nut will never spin again.

 

[Jim_66SS]

Yes bondo and some fiber looking material. That what a previous owner put in there.

 

[67shovel]

For a quick cover up I would get a couple of oval floor/trunk plugs and screw one over the hole. A good bath with trunk paint and it might hide itself pretty well.

 

[136679ss]

You're gonna have to pull the tank anyways to avoid an explosion if you're gonna do any grinding or welding. The key here is SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY!!!!!! After you yank the tank, get a good luck under there, as there might not be anything left to weld too. Then decide the best way to tackle this. You ABSOLUTELY DO NOT have to be a pro to do a trunk, it's very simple if you have a wire feed. Take a little extra time and do it RIGHT. good luck, let me know if I can be of further assistance. JN

 

[Trooper]

Looking at the thickness of that bondo and the edge of the trunk, (which also looks like bondo) my guess is if you start removing body filler your liable to find much more than you bargined for (i.e. trunk floor replacement). If you want it fixed "right" drop the tank and see whats above it then start removing bondo. If you want a quick fix clean up the holes and put a floor plug in them.

 

[Jim_66SS]

Had the tank out two winters ago, no problem under there, original anti-squeak material is still there. No problem with the mounting holes in the frame. I replaced all these body mounts, that why I had to cut 2 holes in the trunk. As a previous owner had done a shotty job of trying to fix the upper parts of the orignal body mounts. He had cut the trunk pan to get the nuts out and replaced the upper part of the body mount. The rest of the trunk pan is un touched. Crossmember support is good with about 1/4" of dust and grease on it. Suppose his only option of getting the original body mounts out was to access the nuts though the trunk.

Here is what I took out and replaced. All the lower rubber cushions are original. All the upper cushions that go between the frame and body that the inserts go inside were gone and replaced with some hard rubber material and material made out of a rubber type belt. And there were no mounts in the position just in front of the rear wheel and the ones at the rear of the frame. There was only one original metal insert. I think the metal insert and the upper cushion were a complete assembly from the factory, at least that what it looks like in the AIM. Thanks everyone