If you have no luck with the nut, cut the bolt to get the shock off, hopefully shove the remains through the hole leaving it clear to replace with a stud, made from a high tensile bolt as I suggested, then slip on your new shock, washer and a new nut. That's assuming that's it's physically possible to get the top of the shock onto a stud. There could be a reason a bolt was used.
looks like the shock collar has rusted onto the shaft ,once the end is off and the shock off ,you can think of plan 2...
you been on the red? When i worked full time in mechanic's ,we did not have time to ponder such things ,but I did set light to two vehicles... One was a bedford rascle van ,i did some welding on the seat mount ,went for a cuppa ,came back and both front seats were on fire.... The astra I blew up was the petrol pipe under the floor somewhere ,I was welding inside on the floor...
No, use the force. or Remove the engine and look up through the gearbox carrier stuff and you can see it. You can see the copper-slip on the end of the bolt. What I can't photo, because the flash kept going off and, hey I'm grovelling under my bus for you, is that as hoped there is space to get a spanner in from the front. I'm not in the mood to remove the wheel to prove it, but maybe tomorrow...
You might as well cut it though, then jam a new nut in the jaws of a spanner and you'll get it in. Could be a wee bit frustrating, but doable. I recommend you fit new shocks, you won't want to do this again any time soon...
In my pic, there is a square nut on the backside of the bolt. I removed the heat shield to show it. That is spinning, and seized. I reckon I could weld that so it doesn't spin, and the heat might help alone. Or I could weld a rod to it and then be able to use the breaker bar on the bolt. I doubt cutting it would work. I would never be able to get the bolt out from the other side anyway. @zed thanks for taking the time to look I appreciate it you didn't have to.
I wondered if that was what I could see. It looked a bit too far towards the camera. Get open ended spanner on it, jammed on the chassis or whatever, another spanner on t'other end and lump hammer it, or socket long extension and monkey bar. If it shears it shears but at least you tried the neat solution first and you never know, it might shear right next to the nut and all the bits drop out the way.
yes i will do that, had a bit of a struggle attempting it today, sun went down, head torch battery died, and so did the LED baton. So i think i will wait til saturday/sunday morn. So any idea what the bolt would originally screw into? Or does it vary between years? i will have to check the other side to see if it is the same. I would have expected this sor of mount to be a fixed threaded bar, with a nut on the outside, makes no sense to have it with the bolt on the inside.
It keeps the nut relatively protected from wheel spray so have some chance of undoing it, but I guess they didn't expect you to be trying 40 years later! The bolt orginally screwed into that bit that's stuck on the end of your bolt! It was welded in place and tucked away safely. Nobody expected you to ever have to replace it or deal with a spinning one. Well they will have given it passing thought, hence you are able to get at it - you should be grateful, it could be far worse - say inside the petrol tank compartment so you'd be looking at taking out the engine and tank.
I am really hoping that i can do this without the engine and gbox out. I couldn't imagine going through that again on my own, makes me weep.
