Five-8

Hi All

So , been struggling to get the water bridge bolts to let go, got the first one, second one broke(proud of the block), just broke the third one(proud of the block), so one left.

My question is, is there any chance i can wiggle the bridge free if i break the fourth one?
I suspect not, since the bolt stubs are at 90 to eachother, but i was thinking i could wiggle it(pry) gently front to back?

Spent a week with pb blaster, tried heat this morning(butane torch-probably not hot enough) even tried dremelling a vertical slot on the side of the bolt head and whacking it with a flat screwdriver. Apart from the first one, these bolts just don't seem like they were ever gonna give it up.

Or should i just get someone in here to do the ole welding trick?

Any suggestions most welcome!

Cheers,

bills928

I couldn't get mine off either until I took my air gun to it.... Set the torque low at first, give it a few shots, the hammering action might shake that last bolt loose.

Adamant1971

You will need some MAP gas (hotter), as long as your filler neck is off as well you should be able to get it out, but I'm not as familiar with the older motors. On my 87 there was no way to get it out, but I managed to lift the bridge enough to get vise-grips on the shaft of the bolt to turn it out, just watch you don't damage the sealing surface on the bridge or block.

Do you have any pics you could share, and what do you (proud of block)? Did you just snap off the heads or the flush with the block?

Five-8

Already tried the air gun...went and bought hex sockets to do it with...no dice even at 140 PSI.

Don't think i have any options left but to get an experienced welder to make a house call.

Thanks though.

Cheers,

Chalkboss

For the remaining bolt I would suggest using a left-hand cobalt drill bit and spiral screw extractor. I have been able to drill into a stripped allen and also broken bolts and get this to work. I feel for you, I have to get my waterbridge off as I am doing a TB/WP and need to change the seals and Tstat. I have a stripped allen, the one near the intake.
I finally got a stripped frozen block bolt out (coolant) by pounding a 1/2 in. four point socket on it and using a breaker bar.

Good luck!

Five-8

Thanks Adam

Oil filler is fastened underneath the waterbridge so it presents a bit of an obstacle but is not really problematic.
Essentially it is just the heads of the bolts that have broken, so when i do finally get the bridge off i will have a remaining length of bolt to work with(proud of the block<---wrong term usage?)

If i could break the last bolt, maybe i could get the bridge off and then i can get after the broken bolt remnants.

Cheers,

Five-8

Ya know...i really have always disliked allen bolts/hex bolts and have cursed the inventor many many times over my life...this is probably just payback :-)

Cheers,

Five-8

Haven't tried it yet, but i fear getting a drill positioned properly for this might be difficult given the oil fillers location, but i will check into this...thank you sir!

Cheers,

Mrmerlin

if possible get a small drill bit and drill into the crossover next to the bolt shank,
once the drill goes through the inner wall to the bolt, then you can fill the part with PB and let it soak.

If your trying to use heat,
the only way this will be effective is if you have the block drained, if the block has coolant in it there isnt any way to heat it up unless you runn it up to temperature then its only going to be as hot as the coolant

LT Texan

Broken bolts at 90 degree angles? Oh, yeah. This is how I did it.

Chalkboss

Now that's going big.

LT Texan

I must admit, that was after the call to 928 Int'l for the used water bridge quote.

GregBBRD

Exactly what I was going to suggest! I've done this a few times. In a shop, we have to think about how much a used part costs versus how many hours it's going to take to remove it.

Besides that, getting the broken bolts out of the head is difficult enough, without the water bridge present.

James Bailey

Why just proves that sometimes you do need a sawzall !!!

GregBBRD

As if there was any doubt?