dr bob

I think even Wal-Mart carries it, in the auto chems or the sporting goods areas. Yellow spray can with red and black lettering.

GregBBRD

Here's some more.

When it comes time to have to resort to drilling the stud (used to be a bolt) out, you pretty much need to be resigned to putting some sort of thread repair into the hole. We use Timeserts, now. I have used Helicoils and they work good, too. I think the Timesert is slightly better, because it is one piece and seems stronger, plus it is easier to work with. However, helicoils are stainless....which is very attractive in this area! The reality is, both of them will work in aluminum when the hole is drilled the correct size and tapped. If the hole is out of round (because of the stuff I talk about below) or slightly oversize (see below) you need to use a Timesert.

The problem with drilling the stud (or any stud) out is that it is very hard to hit the very center of the stud. About 9 times out of 10, you end up with the hole slightly off center. If you have already tried everything that I mentioned before in trying to get the stud out without drilling on it, there is not a snow-***** chance in hell that a stud removal tool is going to take that stud out of the aluminum block. But, you might as well give it a try. Try and avoid breaking off the stud removal tool in the hole.....this makes the removal....well......harder.

So, the problem with the hole being off center is that as you try to drill the stupid thing out using bigger and bigger drills, that you end up with a "1/4 moon" shaped piece of steel in the hole. This sucks, because you can't keep drilling....the drill just wanders off into the softer aluminum and the "moon" shaped steel piece stays the same size. You can't install the Timesert or Helicoil, because the hole needs to be drilled 1/4" and it will be way off center because the stupid steel piece is still there. Plus that, you can't really tap a hole into aluminum with a partial steel side....the tap usually grabs the steel piece and then, for the first time.....it moves. So, the normal thing is for people to attack the "steel moon" piece with a pick on the side where it is stuck. In the rare times that this actually works, most of the time the resulting hole is bigger than 1/4" and you end up with an insert that grabs part of a tapped hole. This is what I was refering to above. You need a Timesert for this.

There is a trick to avoiding all of this ugly mess, but I've used up my share of bandwidth for today. More later.

gb

sharkmeister85

Greg,
Great info! Can't wait for the next installment. Really hope I never need it though!
Glenn

Bill Ball

Great info, Greg! BTW, Timesert will provide stainless inserts. I used to buy directly from the company, and they would make up just about anything you wanted. They now only sell through vendors, but I know they have stainless inserts. For low torque bolts, like the WP ones, Helicoil is fine, but I got used to using Timeserts because I was repairing pulled studs in motorcycle engine cases.

Also, for drilling errors with some bolt crescent remaining and for broken taps, should that happen (it happened to me), diamond-tipped Dremel bits will make quick work of this and you can control the cut since it requires very little pressure, minimizing any damage to good threads.

jon928se

One thing I have found that works with steel to aluminium corrosion (normally you get a white powdery corrosion product) is to pour boiling water on the affected area - or even better de-ionised boiling water (boil this in a glass jug in the microwave) , I've never quite figured out if it was the heat that did the trick or the water dissolving the corrosion but it has worked.

In the scenario where you have a stud (ex bolt) protruding from the block it is wise to be as patient as possible trying to remove the stud whole rather than snapping it's protrusion off and having to drill it out, with all of the attendant issues that creates. If hot water doesn't work try heat on the stud - get it glowing red with a torch, let it cool then try and twist it out gently with small visegrips (to limit the torque you can apply and hence reduce the risk of it breaking) - also worth hitting the end of the stud with a hammer - hammer blow directly towards the block so no sideways force on the stud.

Good luck and be patient.

M. Requin

I can hardly add much to what Greg and Bill have said, just to note that when I was a Honda M/C dealer we had a lot of trouble with the little 6mm studs Honda used for mounting their exhausts. We got pretty good at drilling them out (and using only the ribbed hex type remover - no others worked), but when we had to helicoil the answer was to use an 8X6mm stepped stud for the repair, the 8mm end obviously going into the helicoil, when there was not enough metal left for a normal 6mm stud. Also, removing a broken tap is easier if you have the special broken tap removal tools- a good addition to the toolbox if you do a lot of this. I'm going to try Greg's Mig-and-nut approach if I have the occasion - which I hope I don't!

Kore928

I just had 6 WP bolts break on me last week. After soaking them in PB Blaster for 3 days, I took some vice grips and wiggled them left, right ,up and down to break the outer corrosion and to my suprise, all 6 screwed out without drilling. The wiggling I mentioned involved bending the stud a little each way. I do not recommend this to others unless you have a good amount of finese and a feel for how much bending the stud will take without breaking it off in the block. I am only talking about bending them about 1/32" each way. Anyway, worked for me and I am a happy camper again.

jthwan22

I found torching it red hot, liquid wrench and duble nut works pretty good. The double nut only works if you can put 2 nuts on the broken stud. Backing the inner nut and counter hold the outer one should do it.

sharknoob

If you need to drill studs out make sure you get some good drill bits ...i have some solid carbide bits need very little pressure and you drill slow speed with them less chance to wander ....DANGER dont break one off in the hole...these will drill very hard steel too


solid carbide is not cheap if i remember one 1/8" bit was 12 bucks or so