When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
+2 on that set of bolt extractors- got a set to remove a recalcitrant and buggered allen head axle bolt, worked like a charm. BTW seat parts on the way tomorrow, will PM details.
Vice grips normally have serrations going across the jaws, the wrong way for your purposes, when the vice grips are lined up with the bolt axis. I once ground a big serration going the other way. It bit into the stuck bolt head a lot better. I turned it with - what else? - another set of vice grips.
I don't think I've yet seen the suggestion of welding on a big nut. I've read that just the heat of doing this can loosen a bolt.
Tools:
Electronic parts cleaner spray or carb cleaner spray,
Isopropyl Rubbing alcohol
"Canned Air for blowing dust off electronic parts like keyboards
JB Weld (Hi Temp works better)
Correct size metric socket on 3/8 drive
Cheater bar
Propane torch
Clean the bolt head very well with parts cleaner,rinse off residue with rubbing alcohol
Mix up JB Weld, apply to bolt face and socket surface, force together (small hammer?)
Wipe off all excess carefully.
Walk away for a few hours.
Use propane torch to heat the block around the bolt. It's a huge heat sink, you'll only raise it 150-200 degrees.
Use the keyboard duster/ compressed air spray to cool the bolt,
breaker bar into socket, drain plug out.
I have a similar situation on my '71 SS454 Monte Carlo. A wise mechanic told me that since I was able to remove the drain plug on the opposite side of the block, just flush the system as well as possible and call it good. That goes against my OCD approach to things, but taking the advice likely kept me from doing more harm than good.
Hi again Michael,
I would still use the vice grips, but I would make them so tight that it takes all your strength to close them. I mean really, really tight. Then I would put a pipe over the handle and pull. I realize the plug head may indeed be too mangled to give enough of a stump to grip, but I bet there is enough, based on your pictures.
Get some rest and try again later.
Good luck,
Dave
Everyone, thanks for the suggestions. In doing some additional research, sounds like heat is the most effective method for stuck bolts. Do you think it would be helpful to hit the head of the bolt with a propane torch? I figure the heat will transfer to the block but it will go through the threads, so that should be useful right? Should I use MAPP gas for higher heat or Propane for slower heat? Do I need to mask off the surrounding area with flame protection?
After heating, I'll give it a few wacks with the hammer and then a shot of penetrating oil.
The Irwin type extractors are brilliant. They’ve got me out of more fixes than any other tool, except for maybe the long flexible ‘grabber’ for dropped parts which find the most inaccessible places to land!
This is what happens when you don't know what your doing and you use the wrong tools, vice grips shouldn't even be in your tool kit all they do is strip stuff when they slip at least you got it out. The right tool and advice is always easier. Congrats.
This is what happens when you don't know what your doing and you use the wrong tools, vice grips shouldn't even be in your tool kit all they do is strip stuff when they slip at least you got it out. The right tool and advice is always easier. Congrats.
Sorry but completely disagree. Vice grips are an absolute must have right behind a hammer and a screwdriver IMO. If you can apply a large force on vice grips to get them to lock they ain't stripping. Plus that bolt was already mangled and going to be replaced, so any damage, like what was caused using the extrator, is irrelevant.
12-02-2018, 07:51 AM
