[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by MikeNoun

I do laugh sometimes when I hear a couple guys arguing about the design of a cage nut, or the gloss level of a suspension part. These were mass produced cars, and GM was in a business to make money and meet deadlines.

Me too! Makes me crazy, especially when they argue about the finish on a bolt.

The attachment of the front fender "nose bolts" to the rad support was especially difficult, because it is blind and awkward access. As a result we would cross thread the bolts often or (worse) break the weld nuts loose. Major repair.

We found out 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). The Langs (part number 3846202, btw!) were black but the Ferndales were silver.

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 and why they had a mess on their hands every day.

K