dfinnegan

I have a broken screw on the upper distributor.

The head popped off when I tried to unscrew it. Now I have just the shaft of the screw exposed and it's too soft to hold a straight slot for a screw driver.

I've tried vice grips.

I've hit it multiple times over an hour, or more, with Kroil and Liquid Wrench.

Any ideas on how to extract this screw?

I'd really rather not have to remove the distributors and drill it out.

Dave

dfinnegan

Couple of pics . . .

demonfish

exactly what happened to mine.

file a couple of flats on it and get some mole grips on it after a good soak with penetrant.

Or try a stud extractor...

Rocket Rob

Dave,

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I haven't had that happen to me (yet) but I suspect you will need to remove the distributor to get better access to the broken screw. Is there any way to apply heat to the screw without damaging surrounding items? It looks pretty tight but heat definitely helps loosen the rust/corrosion.

Indycam

Its time to buy a tool .
Magnetic induction heater OTC 6650 .
or
If you put vice grips on it , then twist ever so lightly back and forth back and forth , you will break it free .
Don't twist so hard as to break the shaft , just a little at a time will get the rust to give .

jimq

How do these get so rusty? After 6 years mine looked and came out like new. I put a little anti seize on the new ones.

dfinnegan

I *will* be putting anti-seize on the new ones.

Indy - thanks for the reference, though, at that price I think I'll be trying a few other options first. The back and forth on the vice grips is a good tip. Thanks.

deamonfish - like the extractor tool. I'll look for one of those.

In the mean time I'm going to adjust the valves and spray a bit of penetrating oil between each adjustment. Maybe give it another go in the morning.

Benztech6292

Anyway you can get a torch on it? For stubborn bolts I use a mapp gas torch and get it hot around the base of the threads. Watch out for any plastic pieces. Vice grips should work with that.

Indycam

The wiggle and the torch do the same job , they weaken the rust bond .

If you go slow as to not damage anything but the rust ,
the wiggle method works good .

cwrm4

Every single night this week I would put penetrating oil on it, and whack it as best possible (or twist it with the vice-grips). By the weekend it may free up. Worked for me.

springer3

What Indy said - as you twist, the rust bond nearest the end ruptures. Reverse direction and you get just a few microns more. Keep adding oil. Keep reversing direction. Don't get greedy or you will break the thing off and really have a mess.

Aluminum has almost twice the thermal expansion of steel, so heat works miracles. I use an electric torch - looks like a hair dryer on steriods. It is easier to control that a gas torch, and there is less chance of setting something ablaze.

Good luck

dfinnegan

It may not look like much to some, but it's a very pretty piece to me!

Thanks very much for the tips.

I ended up putting penetrating oil on multiple times over the last 24 hrs. Then I flattened the sides with a file and used vice-grips (mole grips? Is that what they're called in the UK?) to wiggle it back and forth as instructed. It started to turn just a bit earlier today, but I managed to restrain myself, doused it again with penetrating oil (Kroil) and waited until this evening. The plan was to work on other things and just give it another wiggle, but it managed to break free. Whew.

Now, assuming Pelican can get my overnight package here tomorrow I should have my new valve kit to enable reassembly and be prepared for a Saturday run up to Lime Rock. Looks like the weather may cooperate as well.

Cheers

Indycam

Man 1 - rust 0

Rocket Rob

Horay! This may be a dumb question but will you be using anti-sieze on the threads of the new distributor cap?

dfinnegan

Meticulously!