Snapped Bolts

[Ashley Burton]

Don't you love it when a fastener snaps!

Had the joy of drilling this one out on my compressor that is located in the loft whilst standing up a ladder.

Only wanted to reseal the back cover as it had been slowly leaking.

Anyone else had some joys to drill out & remove?

 

[Ruffian]

Usually have some fun and games of dissimilar metals, steel into alloy,

One of the best ones was trying to remove snapped engine mount bolts (all 3) out of a 2.5tdi t4 engine in situ without dropping the engine out.

90 degree die grinder with a cut down and resharpened drill bit was ideal as very limited space. 2 came out, one was cross threaded and ended up drilling and tapping it to accept new bolt.

 

[Ashley Burton]

Usually have some fun and games of dissimilar metals, steel into alloy,

One of the best ones was trying to remove snapped engine mount bolts (all 3) out of a 2.5tdi t4 engine in situ without dropping the engine out.

90 degree die grinder with a cut down and resharpened drill bit was ideal as very limited space. 2 came out, one was cross threaded and ended up drilling and tapping it to accept new bolt.

That does sound like a painful experience!

A right angled drill would be handy, But not needed one yet thank goodness

 

[armalites]

The worst bit is the fact that often choices you make at the begining add to the extra work. The heat exchangers on an air cooled VW are a classic example. The nut will come off easily if split with a chisel but you have to do it before you decide to try a spanner on them. One you move the nut with a spanner you end with a knackered or snapped stud in a large percentage of times unless things are new or recently done. Then you are into drilling a steel stud out of an ali head.

Brake bleed nipples another good example, a little bit of heat and knowing when it's likely to snap can save you a load of misery.

 

[wyn]

Years ago i had to look at a deutz 4 cyl air cooled engine in a sprayer. One of the middle cylinders had some sort of leak. In trying to fix it one of the cylinder bolts snapped off at the crankcase.
It was a middle cylinder so to drill it out other cylinders had to come off with more bolts snapping.
Ended up having to take the whole engine out with about 10 bolts sheared off. It then took a day or two heating and drilling out the broken bolts.

 

[Melvyn Best]

Early 70s my dad had a Whitlock digger that he used for demolition which sheared 2 x 5/8” UNF bolts holding the steering arm to front hub , unfortunately the digger was in the middle of a demolition site up to its axles in mud , no electricity, no generator but managed to get a small hole through the center of each bolt that I was able to get a junior hacksaw blade and cut through to the threads to remove the remains .

 

[8ob]

Years ago i had to look at a deutz 4 cyl air cooled engine in a sprayer. One of the middle cylinders had some sort of leak. In trying to fix it one of the cylinder bolts snapped off at the crankcase.
It was a middle cylinder so to drill it out other cylinders had to come off with more bolts snapping.
Ended up having to take the whole engine out with about 10 bolts sheared off. It then took a day or two heating and drilling out the broken bolts.

Now thats one pig of an engine, there is a four pot Deutz in one of the stump grinders and I recently had to overhaul the top end. All the studs exposed to the elements and several were seized in the block. Upside is they are cheap to rebuild, new pistons,barrels, fan, gaskets and studs were about £600 ish.