info on removing broken bolts

[grumpyvette]

http://www.freealloil.com/freealloil/freeall.html

 

http://www.crustyquinns.com/tech/easyout.html

 

http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/may2003/techtotech.cfm

 

if you can drill thru the center of the broken bolt with a bit aproximately 2/3 the dia of the broken bolt, untill the bit goes ALL the way thru then soak the $%^ out of it with FREEALL penetrating oil,(this stuffs amazing) this will allow the oil to soak in from both ends of the broken threaded section, let it soak at least 30 minute while you re-apply more spray oil every few minutes, then insert the easy out and gently twist the broken bolt remains out of the threaded hole, BTW heating and cooling the bolt, helps. heat with a propane torch the cooling it with the spray oil helps to lossen its grip on the threads if its really stuck

[grumpyvette]

Okay how about tricks for keeping them from turning into the rusted ready to snap pieces of junk, in the first place?"

 

use grade 8 stainless and a coat of ANTISEIZE paste on the threads durringg assembly tends to prevent the problem

 

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?lang=-1&catalogId=10002&storeId=10001&categoryId=22449

[SuperKid]

I love anti-sieze! Definetley use it on the hub when you have aluminum wheels. I had to use a truck and a tow strap to rip a wheel off of a car that had been sitting in the junkyard. What a pain!

[b__sosick]

SWEET

 

Lord knows how many valve cover bolts and other wise have been broken off between the members around here... =)

[CruxGNZ]

A few years ago, I pulled apart my suspension, installed a poly bushing set and coilovers. I also used antisieze on every bolt I took off (this is what I surmised). Then, I suffered a stroke, really screwing up my memory (among other things). Then for some reason I took everything (suspension) apart again to bead blast all the red paint off and make everything that dealt with the suspension cobalt blue and everything that dealt with the driveline black. My buddy helped take the suspension back off and we found that not only were all the bolts very easy to take off from the liberal amounts of antisieze, but there was also a few bolts that were not torqued down to proper specifications! They were just hand tight... I was lucky after diving that Z for so many miles that nothing bad had happened.

 

I still don't remember, doing my suspension the first time, or even why I painted it all red (I think it had to do with idolizing Jeromio at the time). But anyways, the antisieze works wonders when you put parts back together. Makes you life a heck of a lot easier I say.

 

I still do not like using easyouts. I had two of them break off inside of the bolt. One I was able to drill out with a very expensive drill bit, and the other was left to stay in its new found home of a Buick GN dog house.

[grumpyvette]

THE TRICK with sucessfully useing easy outs correctly is that you need to center the drilled hole (it should be about 2/3-3/4 of the bolt dia.)and drill it ALL the way thru the remaining bolt both centered and CONCENTRIC with the bolt centerline and TO SOAK the bolt threads LIBERALLY over 30 minutes with a GOOD PENETRATING OIL that can reach both ends of the bolt (I strongly advise http://www.freealloil.com/freealloil/freeall.html )

most failures are due to rushing the job,

(not soaking a MINIMUM of 30 minutes)

(not useing a good corrosion removing penetrating oil)

(appling too much torque to the easyout, if it won,t back out easily in most cases you did not use enougth oil or waited long enought)

(or and this is most of the time, not drilling the hole both concentric and all the way thru the bolt)

[PeterZ]

Great tips, Grumpy, but I can't drill a straight hole. I can weld without shaking too much so I use a MIG to TIG welder to weld a metal washer to the center of the bolt. Then I weld a nut to the washer. I cool the weld and then spray it with lube. Then I use a wrench on the welded nut to remove the broken bolt. This may take several attempts but I have had the greatest success with this method. The washer allows for some misalignment and also protects the area around the hole. Great for 240/280 cylinder head bolts that always seem to be broken between cylinder 3 and 4. (Cover the exposed surfaces with duct tape or wet cotton towels to avoid spatter damage) The thermal expansion of the bolt from welding helps loosen the threads after cooling. This even works when the bolt is below the surface. You must spot weld the bolt several times to build up material for the nut.