Spare wheel cover bolt.

[smokestacklightning]

Hi,
Whilst trying to get to my back wheel I attempted to remove my spare wheel just to have a bit more movement. A relatively simple task you would think, but no, the Vespa Gods decided to mock me, and so it unfortunately turned into a royal pain in my arse 🤬 The bottom bolt which also holds the spare wheel cover refuses to come out. The nut at the other end of the bolt just keeps spinning with every turn of the ratchet. This nut is held in place with a little metal cage which is supposed to stop the nut from spinning. It does not, hence my problem. If anyone has any idea (which doesn’t involve me having to saw/grind things off) as to how I can remove this bolt I would be eternally grateful. It would also be a big fat middle finger to the Vespa Gods which to those who have faced similar unnecessary problems, would be almost as satisfying as fixing the actual problem itself 😉

[smokestacklightning]

PS - I probably should have mentioned that the scooter is a Vespa PX 200.

[adrian]

See if you can get hold of the captive nut with some grips, when when the bolt is removed, replace with a rivnut 🤔 if you want one send me a message with your address and I will send you one 👍

[gpowell]

RIV nuts are great but for easy a tool is helpful to fit them, however you can cheat and use a bolt/nut and washer to compress it

Or an M8 ss cage nut, file the hole square and clip in.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193352720018

Ive just made a small box from a battery tray to sit in spare wheel aperture and used 4x m6 ones in the holes existing holes

[smokestacklightning]

Thanks for the response my friends. I’ve tried the maul grip approach and just completely destroyed the metal box the nut is situated in. I was hoping that if I put enough pressure on the box it would clamp the nut a little better but alas no. It’s in such a fiddly position that all my attempts are met with just more frustration. I swear that all the simple jobs I attempt always seem to turn into a nightmare! Not quite sure how a RIV nut will help (you’ll have to explain that a little better to me) but if I need it I will definitely drop you a line, thanks for the offer Adrian 👍 I checked out the link you left gpowell and those cage nuts look to be an excellent alternative once I’ve removed the bloody thing. Gonna have another attempt today.
PS I now know what a RIV nut is thanks to google so no explanation is needed Adrian. Good idea, cheers 👍

[soulboy74]

Okay this might sound stupid !! But Hay mate when I have come up against a problem like you have ! What I did was use super glue the socket to the nut! Then you can pull it as you turn it and try and get a very thin screwdriver behind the bolt to leaver it as well !! You can release the glue with solvent after !! Or a replacement part best foot forward soulboy74 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[gpowell]

How you getting on???
Just get in behind with hacksaw or mini grinder, write the cage and nut off. Square up the hole on front insert a ss cage nut and use a ss bolt to reasseble, all with a coating of grease, as ss can be a little hit and miss unless marine grade.

[smokestacklightning]

Sorry about the late reply. I got it off in the end by doing what we’ve all done when we are at the end of our tether. I smashed the f**ker off. The spare wheel cover I mean. Beforehand, I had managed to completely destroy the caged nut at the back. Not intentionally I might add but during the process of trying to clamp the maul grips to it so the cage would grab the nut. With the metal cage destroyed I peeled off the remainder of it with the maul grips so the nut was free. Because it was still impossible to get anything on the nut I then smashed the aforementioned spare wheel cover off and pushed the freed up bolt through. I was then able to get hold of the nut and ratchet the bolt out. Job done. OK, it wasn’t pretty but after the amount of time I’d spent on it I’d really had enough off what should have been an easy job. Just gotta buy a new spare wheel cover now 😂 Peace out my friends ✌️🇬🇧

[soulboy74]

Well done 👍 thanks for letting us know how tings went ! Them cover's aren't needed ! And looks better wheel showing 👍 smashed it love it!! Glad you are moving forward as these tings come and try our resolve !! Best foot forward soulboy74 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[smokestacklightning]

Many thanks for all your help and comments. It was very much appreciated. ✌️🇬🇧