I have seen some of the broken bolt/stud removal threads, but this is a valve cover bolt. I didn't do this, but a friend broke one of the studs off the other night as I was helping him set the valves on his SBC in his O/T Nova. Wasn't watching as he was cranking the torque to the stud and he snapped it off just over the surface of the head. I was in there today with a small hammer and chisel, tryin to spin the stud, but couldnt get it to budge, the bitch is tiiiiight. Tried vise-grips, but still nothing. I was thinkin of usin a small rotary tool to cut a notch in the thing and use a screwdriver, but its too tight. I'm not a big fan of easy-outs, but I'm thinkin its my only option. No welder in the garage, so no help there. What do you all think, any other ideas??
Well, I was gonna say try to tig weld a nut on there and try to back it out, but.....good luck with that.
heat the head in the area with a propane torch, and when it gets pretty warm, not glowing melt some candle wax into the area. then it should come out with a center punch.If not use the easy out.
Forget the easy-outs. This takes patience, your dealing with a 1/4-20 thread. As was said heat, tap it sideways, but not too hard. It will come out. Patience!
If Vise Grips won't do it, a slot and screwdriver won't either. Seems the only really successful thing for me over the years has been cutting it flush smoothly, centerpunch it dead center and patiently drill down the center starting with an 1/8" bit and working larger til what looks like a Heli-Coil comes out. You'd think it'd have to be a reverse rotation bit for this to happen, but for some reason it works. BUT, reverse rotation bits will work even better/faster, as the heat from drilling may release the threads BEFORE you go up a bunch of sizes. I've NEVER had an Easy-Out work. The theory of em spreads the brokeen bolt out TIGHTER in the hole you're removing it from. If you break the Easy-Out, you're fucked
I'm in 100% agreement on the easy out thing. I have a big set of Snap On ones, and they suck, I think I've only sucessfully removed a bolt with them 1 out of a dozen or so times. Left hand drill bits would be the cats ass, but I can't find them around here. Not really a big fan of drilling around that part of the engine either. I like the heat and wax idea, forgot that one. Gonna try that one tomorrow if no other ideas come arround. Any others? Thanks a lot guys.
If it breaks? WHEN it breaks. If you have to drill, put a crappy valve cover on to keep the shaving out of the head. Of course, you'll need a log bit or bit holder/extender. Or as you drill, have the shop vac going right at the spot you're drilling to suck up the shavings.
Harbor Frieght sells them cheap. I wouldn't use them everyday, but honestly, they have saved my ass more then a few times.
also if you have a drill with a "clutch style chuck" set that to a light setting to avoid breaking anything you have on the end of the drill off in the head
No Harbor Freight up here, but we do have Princess Auto, and I've never seen them there. Pretty hard to find those bloody bits up here. And that clutch idea is a good one, if I gotta drill the thing.
Maybe shy away from auto part stores and look to machine shops? I've had great results with regular bits. Towards the end, they work the helicoil looking remains out like a reverse bit for some weird reason. Good luck, be patient
I had good luck last week with an 1/8" left hand drill bit in an aluminum head (same thing as yourselves but BBC Dard Pro 1's.) I use a product called AERO-KROIL and it works B!TCHEN! a little heat doesnt hurt. Worst comes to worst, you just have to install a helicoil. mike * you think that's bad! try pulling a broken/stripped oil restrictor from your running race engine!!!
Avoid that problem in the future by using slotted head screws. You just can't overtighten them and if you do you wrecked the cover or the gasket anyhow. No valve cover should need to be tightened more than can be done with a screwdriver.
I've always had best luck with the easy outs that have a big nut on em you can put a wrench on. File the top of the stud flat, center punch it, and then drill it. Another method is to start with a smaller bit (#40 or #30 for a 1/4") and work your way up larger to a tap size. Thread the tap in and back it out. You'll get the rest of whats left. The key is staying centered when you drill. Remember, harder material takes slower drill speed. You can do it.
If it is in cast iron and you can get the vise grips to lock on, grab the oxy-acetaline torch and heat the cast area around the bolt to red. Then clamp on your vise grips and start working it loose, i have used this trick many times on seised exhaust manifold bolts with great results as the cast expands faster than the steel causing it to loosen.
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