It started out as a simple, fun to do project. I took the HHR out of the barn (where I store 5 vehicles) and brought it into the main garage which is my main work area. Jacked it up on all 4's and removed the bolts, calipers, caliper brackets, clips and pads. I laid out all removed components methodically and neatly under their respective fender wells.

The job went as expected. I painted the calipers red, the caliper brackets black, and then detailed the wheels (face and back) as well as the fender wells. I let the calipers hang to dry overnight on stainless steel wire suspended from the springs and the brackets were hanging from the ceiling to dry. The next day, I put the caliper logos onto the calipers and was ready to reassemble.

That's where I went through the dark door into the Twilight Zone.


All of the brake hardware that I neatly laid out was still intact except for 1 bolt from the right rear assembly. I found that a caliper bolt was missing. It's the one that bolts between the caliper and caliper bracket and into the caliper rod. I searched the garage. My wife searches the garage. I offered my kids a $20 bounty on the recovery of the bolt. No luck. It seemed to be swallowed into oblivion. Dang, the car is 99% done, but is now immobilized because of a stupid bolt.

So then I figure I'll just get a new one. I go to my local Chevy dealer and find that the bolt is a non-stocking item and must be ordered from Dearborn, Mich. About 4-5 days to get it. Now this is a bolt that is common not only to all four wheels on the HHR, but is also common to the brake hardware on the Cobalt (we painted my son's Cobalt calipers before mine, so we were already familiar with it). But the bolt is indeed somewhat specialized. It is an M8 x 1 X 26.5 SAE class 8 shanked, serrated crown (no lock washer).


I then tried the "lightweight" auto parts places like Auto Zone and Advance Auto Parts. They have nice looking young girls working there, but are useless when you need something other than wax or polish. One said that a hardware kit was available for $42 that included the bolts. Forget that. Another had a kit with the bolts and rods for $9.99, but was on indefinite backorder (WTF is "indefinite backorder?"). I then tried hardware stores and home centers.

They had the M8 x 1 x 30, but were only class 2. I was concerned about shearing from torque pressure when the brakes are applied, so this was not an option.

I went back to my garage on a mission. I ended up spending the better part of a day removing all of the contents within the garage. Things like my generator, pressure washer, welder, tools, folding lawn furniture, helmets, etc. I cleaned and swept. I literally inspected every square inch of concrete in the shop. Now I have a spotless work garage, but still no bolt!

I looked up and down the driveway figuring that the bolt was kicked out there, but this was a long shot. The HHR was backed into the garage and the lost bolt was from the rear. Still no luck.

I now came to the realization that the bolt went into the oblivion of the Twilight Zone and I had to do something to get the HHR off of the jack and back into the barn (when we are not working on projects, my wife parks her Olds Bravada in the main garage).

My son suggested that I contact the "heavyweight" auto parts place in the local city, so I tried them out (this is one of those that the local repair shops source from). They also had the kit with the bolts and rods as described by the girl at Auto Zone, but this place wanted $15. Unlike the Chevy dealer and the lightweight auto parts places, they actually had them in stock. I happily shelled out $15 and got my 2 caliper bolts and 2 caliper rods. When I got home, it took minutes to finish the job. I installed the bolt, and then put the other bolt and 2 caliper rods onto the shelf to start collecting dust. My wife and kids think that I lost not only the bolt, but also my mind. How the heck can you lose something to this degree where it’s unrecoverable?


Yesterday was finally Friday, so after work I decided to detail the interior of the wife's Bravada and maybe give it an exterior wash. It was already parked in the main garage, so I figured I'd vacuum the interior first. I have a fancy, new retractable LED droplight that is suspended from the ceiling in the garage. It has a service receptacle on it that is ideal for my mini shop vac that I use for the cars. It also has a handy magnet that helps hold it onto metal surfaces. When I reached up to grab the light, something fell off of it onto the floor. It was that #x*@%$ bolt!


Finding that thing actually was a relief, as I proved to my family that I'm not totally crazy (but maybe just a little).


Moral of the story for HHR owners: Guard any hardware that is removed for servicing, regardless of how generic you think it may be. Even a seemingly simple bolt for these cars might lay your car up for days or cost you money that you wouldn't expect to spend.

 

Well written! You need one of those magntic floors to keep your bolts from hitching a ride on the retractible LED :)

Calipers look great, BTW.

 

nice job and good (and suspenseful) write-up

 

I have always found that one of these magnetic bolt trays will preserve my sanity. They come in all sizes and shapes.

 

Not sure about you guys, but I'm kinda wondering how exactly that bolt got up there...

 

87silver, I feel your pain... I had the exact same thing happen to me a couple years ago when I was using a magnetic base trouble light while doing a repair job on one of our rigs. I pulled the transfer case and trans out of the Tahoe. I couldn't believe that I had lost his special bolt needed to put it all back together and it wasn't till the next day that I thought to look at that magnet... Man, was I PO'd at myself in the meantime that I had misplaced that bolt!

 

I pulled the droplight down from the ceiling and was using it when I was disassembling the rear brake assemblies. The HHR was backed into the garage and it was darker toward the rear under the fender wells. When I put the light away for the night, I just gave the cord a tug and it retracted into the ceiling area. Never saw the bolt attached to the magnet, but never gave it a thought to look... Who would unless it has happened before?

I've worked on vehicles in this space dozens of times and something like this has never happened before, but it never will again, either.

 

Its hard to tell from the tiny pic. Whats the name of the manufacturer of the dastardly retractable LED ? And where did you pick it up?

 

Those LED lights are evil!