Spinning captive

[Mr Zap]

Trying to remove the OSF supension strut from an MK4 Golf but two of the top bolts are just spinning and it looks like the threaded inserts in the strut itself have come loose. Anyone seen this before? I can't get hold of the inserts with anything to stop them so it looks like I'm going to have to try to cut the heads off, somehow??!!

[Crasher]

Top bolts? Golf 4? The Golf 4 top plate is retained by a nut in a plate, this sounds like a Golf 5.

[Mr Zap]

Yes ok it's a 60 plate so a MK5, my bad ...
I'll move this across later

[Crasher]

Golf 6 if it is a 60 plate, this happens with the PQ35 type top mount and we deal with it using vice/mole grips from below.

[Mr Zap]

Well I wasn't so lucky, even with the insert in the vice I still had to cut the remaining top portion of the bolt off and wind the insert up and off it that way, there was no way it was going to come off the normal way, it was no wonder the inserts came loose. It was relatively easy to press them back in and punch round them to make them stay put though.