Having trouble with front bumper bracket bolts

[NCtrueconservative]

I have a 73 Challenger, and I am trying to put the front bumper brackets on it.  Well, I bought some bolts (since I can't seem to find the originals) and the bolts seem to fit (I am bolting them in the holes on the frame where they go).  They thread nicely, but towards the end when they should be getting tight, they get tight, and then loosen up again.  So, I can never get them tight enough to hold the braces.  Do I need to put loctite or something on the bolts, or do the threads inside the holes need rethreading?  Also, The front hole on the driver side is missing the threads inside the hole on the frame, so I cant thread anything through.  What to do about that?  Any help would be much appreciated,as if I can get my front bumper put on, I can get the car near done, but these braces are kicking my tail.

[DAYLEY/CHALLENGER]

Sounds like all the holes are stripped........You will need to rethread slightly larger and put oversize bolts in............Locktite isn't the answer.........

[NCtrueconservative]

I will try rethreading.  My only concern was that there are not many threads in the holes...what I'm trying to say is that the threads don't go that deep.  And like I said, the bolts screw in fine, but just get tight and then loosen up at the end

[BadJoey]

If I am not mistaking there is nuts welded to the frame on the inside . Sounds like one fell off before you started the bolt and the other after . I had a similar problem with my K frame . I had to cut a hole in the frame , weld a nut on a steel plate that was big enough not to spin inside the frame , tack weld the plate , then reweld the frame . Good luck , it really wasn't that hard, but if you never did any metal work get some help . 

[NCtrueconservative]

well there are threads in there, just not nuts i dont think, idk. 

[burdar]

BadJoey is correct.


There should be nuts welded inside the frame.  If they have broken free, then you'll have to cut open the frame from the engine compartment side.  Once the new nuts are welded on, you'll have to reattach the section of the frame that you cut out.  I'm sure that's not what you want to here but if you do it right the first time, you won't ever have to worry about it again.

While you're in there, check the K-member nuts.  If they look questionable, reweld those too.