I think I have successfully ruined both of the spring retainer bolts on the front left corner of the car trying to re-install the spring retainer. It doesn't look like there's any headroom over the bolts to remove and replace them and I can't seem to find any write ups of getting those out outside of other major surgeries. Any advice on how to replace those without digging too deep into the car? I can't seem to see any way out short of removing the steering rack and/or dropping the crossmember. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

year of c4, and which bolts exactly do you mean?

 

It's an 89. The bolts I'm talking about are the bolts that go through the U-shaped spring retaining brackets that go right under the spring pads. I'm just trying to figure out my options before getting into more trouble.

 

ive only done an 87 and 86.

iirc, the forward bolts top hex is accessed using a wrench from the front. then i use an impact under the bottom.

the rear bolts hexs are a bit different. the top side is accessed using a bunch of extensions (i use electricians tape to tape the extensions together to avoid losing part of my setup) and a wobbly u joint. My memory says the nut and bolt head are not the same size. i also recall that i had to flip one bolt upside down. in either case, for the part that is lowered in through the access hole in the kmember for the rearward fastner, take two small pieces of black tape and make the ID of the socket smaller so that the faster you lower down into the kmember does not fall out of the socket. u give a tug when its threaded in and this is why u need the tape holding it in.

what did you break? those are big bolts. did you cross thread?

replacement bolts via used parts suppliers are available.

 

As far as I can tell the bolts are bent. I think the spring was slightly offset when I started re-attaching the retainer, bending the bolts as I was tightening the nuts. The nut on the rearward bolt is just spinning in place and the head on the front bolt is starting to get rounded. I'm happy to cut them off as long as I can get new bolts in there.

I think flipping the frontward bolt upside down should work as long as I can get a bolt that is short enough to avoid hitting the steering rack.

As for the rearward bolt, I found the access hole but I wasn't confident that the bolt could be inserted through that hole, so as long as I can get that it shouldn't be a problem.

And you're right, the bolt heads are 13mm and the nuts are 15mm. Also, I actually never got to the top of the rearward bolt but instead cut a slot on the bottom of the bolt so that I could use a flat head screwdriver to stop the bolt from spinning.

 

hit up ebay or mirrock or dinos corvette salvage. get new bolts. might have to take the whole bracket.

entirely possible you just get replacement bolts from a hardware store too. if it were me id order a factory set.

ive got a lift and when i did mine, i rolled my transmission jack over and pushed the spring up a bit, to avoid what happened to yours.

if you are working on your back, use a floor jack with appropriate padding to protect the underside of the spring. be cautious though, upward force on the spring WILL lighten the remaining jack points. just enough to remove some bend, not enough to destabilize whatever jacking system you are using.

infact while i think about it, if you are installing a lowering kit or something you may have the fromt end way way up in the air. you may have to use some sort of wratchet strap system to pull the spring up rather than push it up

 

I'm probably going to go with some hardware store grade 8 bolts. Being in MN means I get a short season and I want to spend it driving, not waiting. Plus I want shorter bolts as this whole process was for the installation of lowering wedges and shocks.

I have been using a jack underneath the control arm in order to get the spring close to its normal resting position when I tighten the nuts, however I adjusted the jack a few times while tightening the bolts so that's very possibly what caused the bent bolts.

 

Use an appropriate dimensioned stud with a prevailing torque nut on the top side. Some exhaust studs will have a minimal hex on one end so that you could tighten appropriately and then just nut the bottom as you wish. Grade 8 is overkill I'd think. The stud wouldn't require the minimal hex but it could be good. Some GM would have an E8 end vs hex. GM# 12560892 might be one to check. Are the nuts you have M10-1.5? That would change all my comments if they ain't.

 

I have realized my true mistake was that I ran out of threads on the bolts. Yes, I was very dumb but I'm going to post through it in case anybody else encounters this. I successfully managed to swap out the bolts for shorter class 10.8 bolts. M10x1.50 80mm is what I ended up using. I cut the old bolts off above the nut with a dremel to make it easier to extract them. I fished out the driver's side rearward bolt out with a magnetic pickup tool and got the new bolt in by lining the socket with a bit of tape and pushing it through. The driver's side forward bolt needed some finagling but got through eventually. I lifted the lower control arm as high as it would go before tightening them up.

But now the passenger side is giving me the same problem. My spring retainer bracket has been cut down enough that I will run into the unthreaded portion of the bolts and this side is even worse. I could likely get the forward bolt in with similar finagling, but the passenger's side rearward bolt access hole is stuffed underneath the AC compressor. I'm strongly tempted to take the lazy way out and toss a few washers underneath it, as most of the spring load is on the lower control arms rather than the spring retainers. If there's a way to replace that bolt without removing the AC compressor please let me know.

Thanks for the help so far.