Fender Bolt Thingies

[Keith Seymore]

Those are supposed to be welded on as far as I know. You didn't cut the weld because it looks like rust took care of that part for you. Not like it's a heavy weld, they're basically just tacked in. A little bit of rust will easily make that weld disappear, or at least compromise it enough to crack easily when just a little bit of torque is applied. The rust that forms in the threads is usually stronger than that little tack so the whole thing just snaps off and spins when you try to loosen it. That's not just a squarebody thing, that's uses on everything from fenders on our trucks to the subframes of little foreign economy cars and everything inbetween.

This is correct.

My guys installed about 1.8 million fenders, with about 7 of those in the nose of each fender.

Cross threaded and broke off a bunch of 'em too, right on the assembly line.

K

 

[RecklessWOT]

Cross threaded and broke off a bunch of 'em too, right on the assembly line.

Gotta love it. Good ole UAW hard at work lol.

I guess when you crank out a zillion a day you really just stop caring. Can't say I wouldn't be the same with such a mundane task at hand.

 

[Keith Seymore]

Here's the story that stems from that experience:

One of my favorite assembly line stories has to do with factory bolts:

On the squarebodies, the attachment of the front fender "nose bolts" to the rad support was especially tough, because it was blind and had awkward access. As a result we would cross thread the bolts often or (worse) break the weld nuts loose. Once you do that it can't be fixed on the moving repair line; it has to go into a stationary stall for repair.

We discovered that there were two suppliers for a bolt that same size: One from Lang Fasteners and one from Ferndale Fasteners. The Langs would crossthread like crazy but the Ferndales wouldn't for some unknown reason, maybe because of the difference in coatings. The Langs (part number 3846202, btw!) were black phosphate but the Ferndales were silver cadmium.

What we ended up doing was stealing a box of the silver bolts from Line 2 and run them all night with no issues, and then lock them up in our locker, set out a box of black bolts on the job and then go home.

We did that for several years. First shift could never figure out why we didn't crossthread those bolts and why they had a mess on their hands every day.

K

 

[OldSchool C-10]

Any of these look like it?

https://www.lmctruck.com/1973-87-chevy-gmc/body-panels/cc-1973-87-front-steel-body-parts

Looks like #15 is the part for the square hole, then 14 is the bolt. Thanks!

 

[OldSchool C-10]

That is a nut that is supposed to be pressed/welded into the fender. If you are replacing the fender, you don't need to worry about it as the fender will come with that weld nut installed already. The square hole in the cab is there for fender adjustment up/down, fore/aft.

Cool, I'll go out and check the new replacements. Bought a front-clip from a guy so these 'should' still be there. That's for info about adjustments.

 

[OldSchool C-10]

Found these on eBay.

25pcs NOS fender quarter door moulding clips sealer nuts 7/8 to 1-1/8" Chevy GM | eBay

You are buying twenty five (25) NOS fasteners.

www.ebay.com

Bolt is too small but looks good for when I start on the rest of the rust, I mean the cab.

 

[Chags]

what size is the bolt for said captive nut? im trying to find out to help in the alignment of fender, I tried using the same size that hold the splash guard to the cab but it goes to a point and stops, I don't want to force it and strip the nut.