Top Front Bow

[fiat218]

I was putting on the front top latches and the insert moveable nut plate fell away from the opening
any one ever experience this ?
How did you fix it / I was thinking about cutting the top open to get inside then fix the problem then weld it back up. would that work
i have a 70 spider
I also posted in the WANTED , that i am looking for one

[18Fiatsandcounting]

This did happen to me once. In my case, I could still see the edge of "hidden" nut, but the threads had dropped below the opening in the bow. I was able to grab the nut with a small pick or magnet or something, move it into position again, and then put a small dab of glue to temporarily hold it in place. Not permanent glue like epoxy, but contact cement or the like. It held the nut enough to keep it from turning, and I was able to screw in the latch screw. The downside of this method is, if you ever needed to remove the latch screw again, the nut would likely fall back down into the hole.

The other possibility is to drill another hole (slot) in the bow that you can reach through to hold the nut in place as you connect the latch, but that seems excessive so I'd try the glue method first.

-Bryan

[fiat218]

I can’t see it, it dropped beyond seeing, I just thought of cutting the top open, fix it the weld it again