What is the piece that holds the coat hanger in?
10-10-2011, 12:47 AM
#1
What is the piece that holds the coat hanger in? I was removing my sail panel yesterday and everything was going well until I had to remove the coat hook. That thing wouldn't come out, and eventually, the bracket or tab that holds it to the sheet metal of the car fell into the body and I can't fish it out. I don't even know what this thing looks like, and I don't want to rip the other sail panel out just to break that one too.
Does anybody know what the piece is or if I can get it at an auto parts store? Or if I can get it ANYWHERE for that matter?
Does anybody know what the piece is or if I can get it at an auto parts store? Or if I can get it ANYWHERE for that matter?
10-10-2011, 09:41 AM
#2
Not sure - but I'd expect its just a speed nut like the ones that hold the sail speakers in:
I'd also be worried that thing will rattle around down there. If you take the speaker out, you should be able to get a telescoping magnet and a flash light in there to retrieve what fell down. (When you do this, be careful that you don't loose the speed nuts for the speaker!)
I'd also be worried that thing will rattle around down there. If you take the speaker out, you should be able to get a telescoping magnet and a flash light in there to retrieve what fell down. (When you do this, be careful that you don't loose the speed nuts for the speaker!)
10-10-2011, 11:13 AM
#3
Ah well the thing is, I've tried that and couldn't come up with anything. The coat hanger doesn't really screw into pace, it sort of slides in with these little plastic teeth. When the thing fell in, it definitely sounded more like plastic than metal. I cant see anything down there either since my pumpkin head is too big. Blah.
11-12-2011, 08:59 PM
#4
I'm in the middle of messing with this part of my car to replace a seat belt.
You are right, there is no nut or other piece attached to the hook. I wonder if part of your hook broke off the end and then fell down? (If that happend, you'd probably still have enough material to put it back in and bite.
Unfortunately... I stripped a nut that the seat belt hooks up to and in the process of re-threading the nut, I dropped a bolt down there. ... its bad. There is essentially a roll cage welded in there and the coat hook (and my missing bolt) enters that chamber. I think it dead-ends in to the top of the wheel tub. Its impossible to get to with body parts, but I have a 3" lighted boroscope with a magnetic tip. Hopefully that will allow me to retrieve the bolt...
This thread must have been bad luck.
You are right, there is no nut or other piece attached to the hook. I wonder if part of your hook broke off the end and then fell down? (If that happend, you'd probably still have enough material to put it back in and bite.
Unfortunately... I stripped a nut that the seat belt hooks up to and in the process of re-threading the nut, I dropped a bolt down there. ... its bad. There is essentially a roll cage welded in there and the coat hook (and my missing bolt) enters that chamber. I think it dead-ends in to the top of the wheel tub. Its impossible to get to with body parts, but I have a 3" lighted boroscope with a magnetic tip. Hopefully that will allow me to retrieve the bolt...
This thread must have been bad luck.
11-14-2011, 07:48 AM
#6
On the very off chance anyone looses a part down this hole of despair, I was able to get my bolt back.
The boroscope was really helpful in that it allowed me to locate where the bolt was. (The bottom of the cavity is around 12 inches long and extends back under the hatch.) However, the magnet on the end of the boroscope was too weak to lift the bolt.
I then used a parts grabber, which grabbed the bolt but dropped it because my tool was broken:
I ended up resorting to a magnet on the end of a coat hook. On the top cover of some DVD/CD drives, there is a plastic disk that centers the CD in the drive. This plastic disk is held to the case in some instances with a doughnut magnet. It was the perfect size to thread a coat hangar through it and was powerful enough to lift the bolt while not being so powerful that it stuck to the metal panels too much.
The boroscope was really helpful in that it allowed me to locate where the bolt was. (The bottom of the cavity is around 12 inches long and extends back under the hatch.) However, the magnet on the end of the boroscope was too weak to lift the bolt.
I then used a parts grabber, which grabbed the bolt but dropped it because my tool was broken:
I ended up resorting to a magnet on the end of a coat hook. On the top cover of some DVD/CD drives, there is a plastic disk that centers the CD in the drive. This plastic disk is held to the case in some instances with a doughnut magnet. It was the perfect size to thread a coat hangar through it and was powerful enough to lift the bolt while not being so powerful that it stuck to the metal panels too much.
