turbite

Well not exactly stripped, The head of my allen wrench broke off in the last bolt *inside* the cam tower.

I figure... no big deal... I'll just drill it out, but the allen wrench is actually tougher than the bolt. So I can't really drill out the center, and I can't seem to get the broken part out.
Any ideas?

Too bad... I was so ready to see what the cylinder walls on my new mystery engine looked like.

NZ951

I just went through something similar not long ago! If you have the ability or means, weld onto the top of it and unscrew it with a nut ****er or something similar. Thats if I am picturing your problem correctly.

Tom M'Guinn

Carbide bit? Or maybe one of those dremmel extension things will reach in there to grind the head off (if this is a complete tear-down of course).

turbite

At this point, I'm gonna try anything that can destroy the head on that thing.
Carbite bit is probably the way.

I looked through my dremel stuff, but didnt see anything that would help.
Not much fits in the cam housing holes.

BoostGuy951

That sounds like a major PITA, but you can't be the first person to have done that. I have broken allen wrenches off in bolts before. You will always break an allen wrench with a ball end. I have always been able to pry them out, but I haven't had to deal with it hiding in the cam housing.

porshhhh951

Ouch!
sounds bad. Your carbite idea could work. Let us know how it go's. With pics of course


hey boostguy what the hell is up with the daily driver sig? what happened to your black beauty with my rims?

David Floyd

It is a pain in the a$$, I was able after several hours to pry out the broken ball by using a punch to knock a side of the bolt off and the drill the head off the bolt. No fun at all !

No more ball Allen's for me in blind areas.

Good luck

Claus Groth

I have drilled out a broken carbide end mill. It is almost impossible because the new carbide cutter will chip so easily. Also the rotating speed should be slow. It will take hours!

I suggest that your time will be better spent trying to work the Allen wrench loose.

Good luck,
Claus

eclou

Heat it with a torch until it is cherry red and try a magnet while tapping the bolt head to cause vibrations.

Then, use your heel to strike yourself in the groin several times so you will never do it again...

turbite

This is gonna be fun!

Thanks for the suggestion guys

After about an hour or two, I've managed to make the head look like a big mess, and rotate the ball end of the allen wrench, but it won't come out.
I'll invest a few more hours tonite.

Meanwhile, I'm going to try eclou's latter suggestion.

special tool

You guys have bigger blls than me, man. There is oil in there - cherry red is what... 2000 F?

eclou

Keep the Halon nearby....

jimbo1111

If you have an arc welder. Try to arc weld the rod to it and pull it out with a set of plyers. It might even work with a mig.

dand86951

Another way may be to try some of that freezing spray that can super cool parts. I think they have nozzles that would let you get down into the cam cover. Try to cool the hex enough to get it to shrink just a bit and see if it would then come out.

Otherwise, try a small diamond ball stone on some type of extension. to either a drill or dremel. The diamond stone will cut the hex material, if you can get an extension long enough to get down into the cavity.

mumzer

dont use the torch....heating the bolt cherry red will also have the effect of putting the a-356 casting into its ductile zone...

not a good idea...plus the cam tower will dissipate the heat so fast, im not sure this would even be possible.