Hello

The saga continues....

I still cant get the screws off for the rotor and Im open to any suggestions. I have used screw off (suppost to barely drill into top of head to remove screw) I have bought and broke a screw extractor (drilled into the screw and then inserted a screw extractor that broke with a minor turn with a vice grips... :-(

so, I have two very ugly looking drilled at screws that wont come out for the life of me. I will take pictures now but they wont be visible till I get back to school....

IM Wondering though, does anybody have any suggestions of how to get this damn thing off? I have a high power drill and craftsman bits which even still seems to have problems grabbing and biting into this dinky little screw. My only other idea is to get a very large bit and drill into the rotor but I think that would be the job of a drill press.....

:-(

any ideas?

-matt

 

matt,

You're talking about the rear rotors, right? And the countersunk Phillips head screw that holds the rotor on?

Are the slots for the Phillips head totally screwed. Did you try a Phillips head bit in a breaker bar?

If you don't plan to reuse the rotors, maybe you could use a cutoff wheel and remove enough of the rotor to get a grip on the screw with vice grips.

 

Why not just drill the head off the screw? Then you can pull the rotor off and apply PB Blaster straight to the base where it threads into the hub, and with no tension on it it should unscrew by hand or with some pliers.

Sam

 

I second Sam Lin's proposal

 

well... I tried to drill out and broke my bit...


then.....

I used a dremel and a cutting wheel to remove the area around the rotor. This looks like it *should* work because on one of the screws I can see the outline between the flange of the screw and the ground away rotor, the other screw is even more ground away yet in the process made both surfaces look they are mated together instead of just screwed.

so....

im going to provide a digicam pick later tonight but I need more suggestions on how to get more leverage to pull this sucka off. I have beat it with both a rubber mallet and a hammer and it still wont budge.

suggestions welcome.....
-matt

 

[insert bad joke about rubber mallets and kids or something else that may or may not be funny]

Use a REAL hammer. Like a 16 oz. ball peen.

 

The proper answer is that you should have used the right tool to begin with, that would be an impact driver and a heavy hammer. Now that it is stripped, drill the head out, pull the rotor and work on it from there.
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Indigo wrote:
Yea that happens, but the metal is just deformed. Its not like its welded together.

If you can just cut through the rotor completely around the screw you could just remove the rotor, then get to the screw with vicegrips.

Matt H wrote:
I've never had a problem using a 12" raachet handle with a good Phillips bit. An impact driver would be my second choice.

 

Impact driver costs 8.00 from tool king and it IS the right tool for the job. I have never had a problem on one of these either but I have had numerous problems on RX-7s.
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You've either got a technique issue or a really cheap bit - get a good drill bit in the proper size, keep the drill spinning before bringing it in slowly, and drill that head off!

Sam

 

yeah im guessing cheap bit... I am going to take it over the a local Firestone shop that will do the work for me, im really hesitant to damange the hub/axle just because I was being careless. Today I tried to heat it up with a propane torch (the rotor) but its just a giant heat sink...it disipates heat way to well for that technique.....

regardless...she will be on a flatbad next week going to get some proper care from a shop I trust and whom Im sure have their share of rusted bolts. will upload pix of drilled off head later today...you can see what im talking about...

-matt

 

Where are you located Indigo? Which Firestone store are you using? I have a certain interest in that.
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Drop me a PM if in the Houston area, I may be able to be of some assistance.