alternator bolt from hell broken off in head

[Roadcuda]

Seems like you're having all kinds of little problems Stuie! Great fix.!!!!!

 

[moparstuart]

Seems like you're having all kinds of little problems Stuie! Great fix.!!!!!

this was a road bump compared to the convertible problem , the motor is back out of it and on the floor again

 

[Basketcase]

:jester: my spare un cut air cleaner

and here I sit without one....you Reds are just COLD.......
when we rebuilt the 440 that was in Freebird, there is a broken exhaust manifold stud in the one head. The machinest tried a diamond bit to get it out. It's still in there.

 

[69hemibeep]

Sounds like you had a grade 8 bolt in there, I was told by a guy years ago not to go that hard a bolt in that same alternator location because they tend to be brittle and don't flex under side load and vibration. Maybe he was onto something

 

[moparstuart]

:jester: my spare un cut air cleaner

and here I sit without one....you Reds are just COLD.......
when we rebuilt the 440 that was in Freebird, there is a broken exhaust manifold stud in the one head. The machinest tried a diamond bit to get it out. It's still in there.

now you tell me dad

 

[ACME A12]

Sounds like you had a grade 8 bolt in there, I was told by a guy years ago not to go that hard a bolt in that same alternator location because they tend to be brittle and don't flex under side load and vibration. Maybe he was onto something

Interesting...

I went through this same thing with one of the heads on Tam's Swinger a few years ago...it was very frustrating...

 

[moparstuart]

Sounds like you had a grade 8 bolt in there, I was told by a guy years ago not to go that hard a bolt in that same alternator location because they tend to be brittle and don't flex under side load and vibration. Maybe he was onto something

Interesting...

I went through this same thing with one of the heads on Tam's Swinger a few years ago...it was very frustrating...

if its bad it will happen to me , man is its raining and pouring on me right now .

 

[69hemibeep]

Sounds like you had a grade 8 bolt in there, I was told by a guy years ago not to go that hard a bolt in that same alternator location because they tend to be brittle and don't flex under side load and vibration. Maybe he was onto something

Interesting...

I went through this same thing with one of the heads on Tam's Swinger a few years ago...it was very frustrating...

Another thing I found grade 8 bolts fail on is leaf spring perch to bushing. Now I twist the crap out of the suspension of my jeep and I found grade 5 bolts would groove against the perch, so I went to grade 8 and started snapping them in less than half the life of a grade 5. :cents:

 

[moparchris]

I used to be the go to man in my area for extracting bolts. The trick I use is to weld a new head of another bolt to the existing broken bolt. This does 3 things, one it makes the stuck bolt soft, two it tends to free up the threads, and lastly it gives you something to put a tool onto. Just bfore I weld it I try to drill it at VERY low speed. Once the hole goes through and through it allows the bolt to shrink and it unlocks the threads. There hasn't been a bolt I can't remove. Yet. :acme: :lmao:

 

[Basketcase]

[


Interesting...

I went through this same thing with one of the heads on Tam's Swinger a few years ago...it was very frustrating...

Another thing I found grade 8 bolts fail on is leaf spring perch to bushing. Now I twist the crap out of the suspension of my jeep and I found grade 5 bolts would groove against the perch, so I went to grade 8 and started snapping them in less than half the life of a grade 5. :cents:[/quote]


we sold tons of Grade 8 frame bolts at the IH dealership.

 

[Big John]

I used to be the go to man in my area for extracting bolts. The trick I use is to weld a new head of another bolt to the existing broken bolt. This does 3 things, one it makes the stuck bolt soft, two it tends to free up the threads, and lastly it gives you something to put a tool onto. Just bfore I weld it I try to drill it at VERY low speed. Once the hole goes through and through it allows the bolt to shrink and it unlocks the threads. There hasn't been a bolt I can't remove. Yet. :acme: :lmao:

Back in my toolmaker days I worked at a place where I was the go to guy for removing broken screws and taps. Real small screws though... 2-56 and 4-40 stainless steel screws in aluminum. I even had a special tool I ground for removing the small flathead screws intact after they had a coat of epoxy over the top.

But for the bigger bolts... Your best friend is heat! Heat 'em up, let it cool and drill in the center with a reverse ground drill. If you got lucky, the drill would start to back the screw out.

But speaking of stuck bolts, my favorite penetrating oil is PB Blaster, but I've read that the best stuff is a 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone. Anyone ever try that?

 

[Jim S.]

I always use PB blaster too but, think I'm going to try atf/acetone before breaking out the torch next time. This is a comparison from another web site. For what its worth.

*Penetrating oil ..... Average load*
None ..................... 516 pounds
WD-40 .................. 238 pounds
PB Blaster ............. 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ..... 127 pounds
Kano Kroil ............ 106 pounds
ATF-Acetone mix....53 pounds

*The ATF-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50% acetone - 50% automatic transmission fluid.*
*Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one
particular test. Our local machinist group mixed up a batch and we all now
use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about
as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price. *

 

[george68hemirr]

i found that you heat around the bolt.....not the bolt itself......expands the iron and maybe you will get lucky with a reverse bit drilling it out

 

[moparchris]

I used to be the go to man in my area for extracting bolts. The trick I use is to weld a new head of another bolt to the existing broken bolt. This does 3 things, one it makes the stuck bolt soft, two it tends to free up the threads, and lastly it gives you something to put a tool onto. Just bfore I weld it I try to drill it at VERY low speed. Once the hole goes through and through it allows the bolt to shrink and it unlocks the threads. There hasn't been a bolt I can't remove. Yet. :acme: :lmao:

Back in my toolmaker days I worked at a place where I was the go to guy for removing broken screws and taps. Real small screws though... 2-56 and 4-40 stainless steel screws in aluminum. I even had a special tool I ground for removing the small flathead screws intact after they had a coat of epoxy over the top.

But for the bigger bolts... Your best friend is heat! Heat 'em up, let it cool and drill in the center with a reverse ground drill. If you got lucky, the drill would start to back the screw out.

But speaking of stuck bolts, my favorite penetrating oil is PB Blaster, but I've read that the best stuff is a 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone. Anyone ever try that?

I have never tried PB, I use liquid wrench. Works pretty good and after seeing the chart above I now know why. I will have to try the 50/50 mix, I didn't know about that one. Left handed drill bits do kick butt, I have a few left but most of them broke over the years. 2-56 screws?! I dont know if I would even be able to see 'em!

 

[moparstuart]

I used to be the go to man in my area for extracting bolts. The trick I use is to weld a new head of another bolt to the existing broken bolt. This does 3 things, one it makes the stuck bolt soft, two it tends to free up the threads, and lastly it gives you something to put a tool onto. Just bfore I weld it I try to drill it at VERY low speed. Once the hole goes through and through it allows the bolt to shrink and it unlocks the threads. There hasn't been a bolt I can't remove. Yet. :acme: :lmao:

Back in my toolmaker days I worked at a place where I was the go to guy for removing broken screws and taps. Real small screws though... 2-56 and 4-40 stainless steel screws in aluminum. I even had a special tool I ground for removing the small flathead screws intact after they had a coat of epoxy over the top.

But for the bigger bolts... Your best friend is heat! Heat 'em up, let it cool and drill in the center with a reverse ground drill. If you got lucky, the drill would start to back the screw out.

But speaking of stuck bolts, my favorite penetrating oil is PB Blaster, but I've read that the best stuff is a 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone. Anyone ever try that?

I have never tried PB, I use liquid wrench. Works pretty good and after seeing the chart above I now know why. I will have to try the 50/50 mix, I didn't know about that one. Left handed drill bits do kick butt, I have a few left but most of them broke over the years. 2-56 screws?! I dont know if I would even be able to see 'em!

come on out mr expert i'm ready for you to fix it . :cheers:

 

[rkb2]

This is an off the wall method but the two times I've used it it worked amazingly well. Since you broke a 3/8 bolt take a 5/16 washer and center it over the broken bolt. Use your wire welder and fill the center of the washer with weld - welding it to the broken bolt then take a nut and hold it on the washer and fill the center of the nut with weld welding it all together. Then take a socket or wrench and unscrew your broken bolt. Since the head is cast the weld doesn't stick and with the heat it frees up. I've taken out two badly rusted manifold bolts this way and it worked great. A buddy of mine who runs a garage does this all the time when nobody else can get the bolts out. Anyway - another option. :lock: