Body / Glass: Body bolt #2 twisted off in hole

[LugNut]

1957 Golden Hawk- Body bolt # 2 broken (during dis-assembly)

Hello guys, Does anyone have a slick fix for this situation, This is the bolt that goes through the bat wing support and has a blind nut inside the body, no access from up above. Both sides has the same issue so I will have to get good at trying to fix this.
I guess I could cut a hole in floor board but I hate to since they are in great condition with no rust. Any ideas will be greatly appreicated. I went today and purchased a new set of EasyOuts if push comes to shove.

[Chipmaker]

Time for a drill and retap job,work from the under side.The easyout is apt to tear up more than it will fix.Some things that can go wrong with easyouts. 1 thay tend to break and are to hard to drill when thay do 2 thay can expand the bolt and jam it tighter 3 if to mutch tork is put on can tear up the cage that holds the nut from turning.

[RadioRoy]

here's a trick my daddy taught me.
-Grind the stub as smooth as you can. They surface harden themselves when they break.
-Drill a small hole as close to the center of the bolt as possible.
-use progressively larger drill bits until you almost break through the threads.
-When you get to almost the bolt diameter, it will take the pressure off the bolt and the shell of what is left of the bolt will come out easily with an easy out, or a triangular file.

[mapman]

What RadioRoy's Daddy says and use left hand drill bits after soaking with your acetone/ATF mix. It's amazing how often the left hand bits will catch and unscrew the broken bolt.
Rob

[Deaf Mute]

I used to be able to get left hand bits around here... but no more (darn it). I broke my last one in a door hinge screw on my pickup project.
Back to the torch and regular bits & much frustration!

[LugNut]

Ok Guys, Thanks for your inputs, I managed to drill a hole all the way through the broken bolt and have placed a foam pad full of penetrating oil up into blind area, I will try the dreaded easyout in a day or so.............

[sweetolbob]

Ok Guys, Thanks for your inputs, I managed to drill a hole all the way through the broken bolt and have placed a foam pad full of penetrating oil up into blind area, I will try the dreaded easyout in a day or so.............

Easy out's are not when they break off. You probably thought of this but just in case, drill the hole large enough to be able to insert as large an easyout as you can. Less chance of breakage.

I like the idea of the soaked pad but if reasonable force doesn't get it started, use some heat, even if you only have a propane torch. A few cycles between the torch and penetrating oil (not WD-40) will help wick the oil into the threads. Just remove the pad before the torch application. Bob

[LugNut]

Yep, Will do.. It would be bad to turn this into a "Flamin Golden Hawk"

[Bordeaux Daytona]

Harbor Freight has a left hand drill bit set for about 10 bucks. It goes from 1/16 to 1/4.

http://www.harborfreight.com/13-piece-left-hand-drill-bit-set-95146.html

[gordr]

I have posted here many times before, and if you search the site, it should show up. Use a MIG welder on the broken bolt to build up a little pinnacle of new steel. Work carefully, use short zaps, and don't let the wire hit the parent metal. When the pinnacle gets tall enough, find a piece of 1/8" X 3/4" band iron, drill a hole near one end, position the hole over the pinnacle, and MIG weld it in place. Allow it to cool, and use the band iron as a wrench to crank the stub out. If you are working in tight quarters, a nut could be used in place of the band iron. If the pinnacle breaks off, start over again. Eventually, it will work. The repeated heat/cool cycles break down the rust bond that trapped the screw in the first place. It also works fine once you have that broken-off Ezy-Out to deal with. You can't drill 'em, but you can weld 'em.

I must have done this a hundred times or more. It almost never fails, and it is really quite easy to do. Sometimes, the hardest part is finding a suitable piece of scrap metal to use as a "handle".

[sweetolbob]

I have posted here many times before, and if you search the site, it should show up. Use a MIG welder on the broken bolt to build up a little pinnacle of new steel. Work carefully, use short zaps, and don't let the wire hit the parent metal. When the pinnacle gets tall enough, find a piece of 1/8" X 3/4" band iron, drill a hole near one end, position the hole over the pinnacle, and MIG weld it in place. Allow it to cool, and use the band iron as a wrench to crank the stub out. If you are working in tight quarters, a nut could be used in place of the band iron. If the pinnacle breaks off, start over again. Eventually, it will work. The repeated heat/cool cycles break down the rust bond that trapped the screw in the first place. It also works fine once you have that broken-off Ezy-Out to deal with. You can't drill 'em, but you can weld 'em.

I must have done this a hundred times or more. It almost never fails, and it is really quite easy to do. Sometimes, the hardest part is finding a suitable piece of scrap metal to use as a "handle".

I use a similar technique but first just find a washer that has a center hole slightly smaller than the bolt diameter, bury a weld into the center to weld the washer to the damaged bolt and then weld on a nut to the washer. You can use a lot of heat with little chance of hitting the adjacent metal.

As Gord says, it will eventually work. Bob

[Deaf Mute]

Never tried a washer first.... GADS the things I can learn here!

[Jerry Forrester]

The way I remove broken bolts is heat them and the caged nut to cherry red and douse it with a heave stream of cold water. That breaks all the rust loose even down in the threads. If there's 1/8" of the old bolt sticking out, use a ziz wheel to grind a screwdriver slot into the broken bolt and screw it out with a screwdriver (it comes out that easy). If it's broken off flush, heat it up again and let it cool naturally to remove the temper you put into the bolt from dousing it with the cold water then use a left hand drill to screw it out. If you used the screwdriver method and are worried about the cage nut being hard and brittle because of the heating and dousing with cold water, just heat it up again and let it cool naturally.
On bumper bolts, of which I do a lot of, I heat the nut and bolt to cherry red, douse it with water and screw the nut off with my fingers, no tools reguired.

[LugNut]

Great ideas! All of them. I just ordered a set of rev bits from FEEbay and will try them in the future.. I will also try the MIG welding method. As it stands right now I have one side drilled and tapped back to a 3/8 fine thread the other side is now a 7/16" grade 8 with standard threads. Thanks again for all the suggestions..Later!

[Warren Webb]

I recently wanted to put a petcock in the gas tank on the 62 Champ but the allen hex screw that was there I found rounded off. Heat was out of the question so I kept spraying different penetrating oils on to loosen but none worked. I finally drilled it in steps until the hole was wide enough for the 2nd largest easy out in the set. The easy outs I use aren't tapered but have a spline. They are hammered in then unscrew. The hole plug came right out as Roy said in #3.