HELP! Stuck bolt advice needed

[dpert1]

Ideas?

 

[bruceb]

You can try an EZ Out to remove it. Or if you can still get a grip on the bolt body
maybe with a Vise Grips ... You may need to heat the area around it slightly.

 

[Evadman]

tap 1/4" hole with left hand threads, use bolt, tighten until the entire thing comes out.

 

[T2urtle]

where is the bolt?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: Evadman
tap 1/4" hole with left hand threads, use bolt, tighten until the entire thing comes out.

Or just use an extractor bit, which seems simpler to me than tapping threads.

 

[bruceb]

An EZ Out (trademarked) is an extractor bit ... they come in
all sizes

 

[compman25]

Can you weld a nut to the end of it?

 

[dpert1]

I have an easy out like bit set, trying that tomorrow when i can get a more powerful drill from work (crappy one i have now couldnt take it)

Bolt is a 14mm located on the back right hand side of my miata's driver seat (bolts seat to frame, bolt currently resides in frame).

impossible to weld anything to it.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Why can't you weld to it? Is it not accessible? Must be if you can use an easy-out.

Here's a great trick for bolts broken off flush: Use a Mig welder. Keep tack-welding a small spot in the middle of the broken bolt. Until you have built it up where you can get Vise grips on it. Clamp them to the bead you've built up and turn it....works a lot of the time. Got 4 broken off bolts out of my Jeep frame like that.

Otherwise, you're down to easy-outs and heli-coils. Just don't break the easy-out off. It'll really be a bitch then.

 

[Squisher]

Are you saying you have the seat off now?

If so, then you've relieved the pressure that required you to shear off the head. The bolt should just spin out with finger pressure except you have nothing to grab ahold of.

Take a prick punch and first make a little prick punch mark near the perimeter, then angle the prick punch to spin the screw. If it doesn't turn chances are either you distorted the top thread a little when the head sheared off (used a pointy deburring bit [aka carbide burr] chucked up in drill or a rotozip kinda tool and go around the perimeter to clean up that thread) OR it is rusted in.

If it is rusted, you might be forced to weld something on there. Be careful using an easy out they're very hard and somewhat brittle, but it might work.


BTW - a lazy bolt remover (Squisher) will use the deburring bit to spin the bolt by laying it down near the perimeter on the far side of the bolt and use the force of the cutting action along with the vibration it causes to spin the bolt. Something like the second set of burrs here.

 

[dpert1]

alright, so i tried the easy out bit that i had and after 4 or 5 attempts at thrusting the at speed bit into the whole and it bringing the drill to a dead stop, the screw that holds the chuck onto the drill shaft snapped. I officially hate these bolt remains.

I cant weld to it because there is a 1/4 inch hole drilled through it with MAYBE 1/16th inch of metal left in contact with the threads. I've already tried the prick punch method and that left me with no top thread at all. I figure at this rate i could just retap the same sized threads that used to be in there and call it a day =]

Theres always a shop with air tools i suppose...

 

[iamwiz82]

I'd drill it out with a one step bigger bit until the bolts crumbles apart. I had to do this with the two bolts that held a thermostat housing once.

 

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone

Originally posted by: Evadman
tap 1/4" hole with left hand threads, use bolt, tighten until the entire thing comes out.

Or just use an extractor bit, which seems simpler to me than tapping threads.

Ever break an ez-out?

I will never use them again or help someone that is using them. They are too hard and brittle.

 

[bruceb]

You could drill it out, but be careful not to hit the threads in the hole.
If you do, you will need to drill up the next thread size and retap. Then
buy bolts that match the new threads.

 

[Elstupido]

"tap 1/4" hole with left hand threads, use bolt, tighten until the entire thing comes out. "

winner.

And yes I have broken an easy out flush with the hole, (manifold bolt)..... ended up trading the car in for another

 

[bruceb]

Glad you got it out. I am going to remember that Left Hand thread trick.
Might be handy someday.

 

[marvdmartian]

Another way you can do it, if you're really anal about making certain your hole is centered on the bolt, is to keep drilling larger holes in the bolt until you've pretty much removed all of the bolt except what's in the threads.......then peel the bolt threads out of the hole threads.
According to the drill chart at the bottom of this page, you would use either a 15/32" or 1/2" drill bit to do it with a 14mm bolt.

This usually works better on items that you can remove and put into a drill press, mind you.

 

[alkemyst]

If you are going to try extraction, drill whatever hole with a reverse (left hand) drill bit. Make sure you use a centerpunch as if you are off even a little your torque will be skewed and chances are the EZ out will break.

This is not a fun undertaking. I missed with the centerpunch on a manifold bolt...EZ out cracked.. I said f'it and dropped it off. $500 and 2 days later, a helicoil was the solution...but they had to grind and drill out what I left there and there wasn't a lot of room to work with nor meat in the head to play with.