the picture i posted isnt minds. its mdracer76's. i might be able to take a picture tomorrow. thats if i have time to do it tomorrow

 

im not able to remove the shocks until i start working on it again. but here is a better piture of it (once again not my picture, and i hope the owner doesnt mind)

 

i remember vaguely that there was a post about how someone drill thru the rear strut so that they could fit the dampener extension for their coilovers. i think its for bc coilover since thats the only one in mind that offers extensions.

i spent that last hour searching for the post with no luck. im trying to find it so i can get see where they drill at

 

https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-...ock-studs.html

wow they used jb weld. seem like a simple fix. i wonder if it lasted for them

 

I am now at 84k miles and no problems yet. Well over 25k miles with this.

Keep in mind that the JB weld was just there to hold the bolt in place and not require a socket to tighten.

 

so what did you do exactly.

"I drill out the studs with progressively large bits.
Once i had a nice hole, i used that weld putty that is good for some crazy strengths. I used a new HARDENED bolt/nut of similar diameter and put it all around the bolt head and smeared into the body. Let it cure for 30 minutes + and the reinstalled my strut."

so you drill a hole. i got that part. how did you stick a bolt along with the head in there without additional drilling to the strut area?

what is a HARDENED bolt? a grade 8 type bolt?

interesting and simple idea. i would love to know exactly how its done

 

so im guessing this is where i will gain access to the studs. any one have an idea of how far down the actual stud is?

 

Looks like about 3".

 

if its around 3 inches, then i think i will be comfortable with just cutting out one or 2 inch circle to grind out the old stud and weld in a bolt with a washer welded to it. i was afraid of this at first because i really didnt want to strip down the interior. but by the look of that picture i posted, it look like its only one or two piece that i need to remove.

oh btw winch, i spent 15 minute trying to get the rivet nut to work and it is hard as heck (tested on a spare sheet of metal). and i need to drill a hole a little bit larger than half an inch for it. so imma scratch that idea for now.

ill keep this post updated as to what i do. cause it seem like im not the only with this problem

 

Sorry man, i have been meaning to try and take a look at this on my car, but Ive been too busy when i get home lately.

I know you can access the top of the rebound adjuster from this location, so im guessing that you can see the top of the welded studs from here as well.

Try cutting an access hole here. You can verify first if this is where you need to get into by putting a flash light to one of the other holes and peaking in.

Access hole:




From there, drill the hole up, whatever you need to do from the bottom and use that hole to gain access to drop the bolt down into. then from there use a ratchet with wobbles or a small wrench, etc to hold the head. maybe even bend a wrench if needed???

There is no need to then weld a plate or anything back over that hole - as that was originally designed to be a steel stamp punch out and was to remain open during the design phase of the 350z - original Nismo and track models were gonna have adjustable suspension, but was later cut due to cost savings.


-J

 

That sounds like a good way to fix it.

One concern is that welding on the car body may do strange things to the electronics. The welding and auto tech instructors at the local tech school won't let students doing any welding on late model cars with ECUs and such. At the least, I'd make sure the ground lead is on clean bare metal as close as possible to the repair.

Since you don't need a structural weld at this point, using JB Weld would probably work just as well, especially since you can always get to the top if you need to in the future.

 

There will be no need for welding at all........

IF
- op drills access hole on top like i posted above and can access the top of the broken stud, he can drill a hole completely through and drop a bolt down through the hole.

tighten everything up and be done with it.

-J

 

thanks jason. that was the exact picture i was looking for. ok i just need to stop by a local auto store to get some jb weld. i already got some replacement m8x1.25 bolts so i can just use those. ill tackle it once i get a chance. seem simple enough.

 

As above and also disconnect the battery ground. I've put two roll cages in 350Zs and have yet to fry an ECU or any other component on the car. Manufacturers do a lot of high volt, high amp testing to make their components don't get fried. Of course, nothing is foolproof.

 

i finally got around replacing the stud today. it was much easier than i thought. i drilled a hole in the strut and then drilled out the broken stud. slipped in a m8x1.25 bolt rachet it down while holding a wrench to the top part of the bolt thru the struts. after all that, i place ample amount of jb weld on the top of the bolt. total time was like 1.5 hrs.

thanks for all the help guys. im glad i had so many options to choose from before i actually tackle the job.

 

Great. Thanks for letting us know how it turned out.

I'm curious. How far was it from where you drilled the hole to the stud? Was my estimate of three inches about right?

 

yeah winchman it was about 3 inches. wished i would have covered my trunk when i started to drill because now i have metal shavings all over the carpet.

 

Any pics of this???

updates? hows it holding up? been doing inspections and checking to ensure its tight?

-J

 

Nice team work everyone!

 

This sounds like about as much fun as exhaust work in the driveway...