M6 or M8 bolt in M7 hole?

[Belgian951]

Yes, that approach seems worth a try. I think I misunderstood your "crooked in the hole' comment above. I thought the hole was too small, which is why I suggested drilling it a little. If the hole is too big, then a couple of washers might hold everything in place. Hard to know how strong all of this will be but can't hurt to try. None of that will prevent you from popping off that little stanchion and welding on a replacement with ball from another car, which ultimately would be the best solution I'm sure.

I have a M8 ball stud in the mail, so I'll fit the one that fits best. I can always try to drill the hole out to M8 size, but there is not much room, although I do have an angled drill attachment, but never used it before.
I'll update this thread once I've fitted something!

What kind of rivnut would you suggest? It seems there are a few, including steel, aluminum, ribbed, but also hex format.

[icb]

I like the ball studs McMaster Carr has, they have external flats for a wrench. You might be able to use a clip nut under there and so not have to try to get a wrench in that impossibly small space. Or even weld a small tab onto an m6 nut and hold it behind there while you tighten the ball stud. A tiny enough tack and you could just break it off after it's tight.

[dr bob]

As for fitting the washers and nut up in there, I've been known to use a pair of forceps to hold fasteners and parts at odd angles. It looks like there's some room from directly underneath. Remember the forceps will latch and hold the nut, so you can manipulate the position from middle of the tools rather than out at the hoops. Turn the ball stud into the nut as far as you can, then withdraw the forceps and use wrench for final tightening. I have a pair with a right angle at the pivot for such things.

As far as size of the stud, my experience is that the stud and the ball diameters tend to be the same. If your strut expects an 8mm ball, you'll be setting up with 8mm hardware on the stud.

You also have the option of gluing the inner washer in place, and let it set up there before wrestling with the nut. Use an adhesive that just strong enough to hold the washer so you can get it out again later if necessary. A small piece of double-sided carpet tape on one face of the washer is like having an extra hand to hold things in place until it gets tightened. You may also decide to paint the washer and the nut to body color before install so they disappear.

[Belgian951]

Thanks, good tips here! I sourced a M8 ball stud with a 10 mm ball (same as original part). So now I have a full M6 and M8 set which consist of the ball stud, 2 washers (and 2 larger washers, I think I'll try the larger ones first), and 2 lock nuts. Forceps would be good to have but can't really find suitable ones on amazon for the moment. A speednut could be helpful but the store didn't have any. Would you use a speednut and a locknut or is that not done?

[icb]

A speed nut is usually used by itself. I wouldn't be above putting a small dab of blue locktite on the ball stud thread. IMO If you get it nice and tight, about 20Nm or so, once the locktite sets the repair will be just as solid as the original joint.

[Tom]

Maybe you can hold the nut with a magnet on a stick? Or taped to a screwdriver. Or held with tweezers. Or a box end wrench... Or Silly Putty.... or whatever it takes...

I would not use a speed nut AND locknut. The threads will compete and the nut will likely not be as tight as it should be.

[Belgian951]

Thanks, I'll carry out the repair ASAP and report back!

[Belgian951]

Hi everyone! Yesterday I carried out the repair. I sourced both a M6 and M8 ball stud and hardware, but decided to install the M6 parts because I didn't want to drill out the original bracket to accommodate M8 hardware.

I have to say, the repair went very well! Here are some pictures.

Original problem:

hood-strut-failure.jpg (459.15 KiB) Viewed 331 times

Repair in progress:

Hood-strut-mount-repair.jpg (779.42 KiB) Viewed 331 times

Result:

Hood-strut-mount-final.jpg (1.16 MiB) Viewed 331 times

If you want to read the full procedure you can do so on 951werks.eu

[icb]

Looks good, and thanks for posting your results, so many forum threads turn into dead ends. By documenting working solutions we are spreading knowledge and skills.