hold down plates

[Tiger Tail]

The hold down plates in the back of my 86 Sovereign are bent over at the plate. There is about 3" of 1/4 x 28 All-thread bent over. How is the plate bolt secured on the bottom side? Is there a nut or is the frame threaded? I am looking to remove the bolts so I can remove the rotted flooring and slide new plywood under the C-channel.

[Hillbilly75]

Doing the same job on my 75 sovereign currently, only a few steps ahead of you. What I did was grind what was left of the bolts off flush with an angle grinder. To reinstall the plywood and channel, I am moving the bolt locations just an inch or so left or right, also adding some more bolts. I found at Ace Hdwre some 3/8 self-tapping lag bolts which are working great. Drilling 5/16 pilot holes and letting the screws cut their own threads into the hold down plate.


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[Hillbilly75]

I found out that you can get to the other end of the bolts by reaching inside the bumper storage compartment. Feeling around in there also will help you understand what you have underneath to bolt to when you reassemble. I wondered why the factory had located several bolts all the way rearward in the c channel. Turns out those were the only 3 that were through the cross member. All the rest missed rearward and weren't really holding the whole thing down to the frame.