Stuck bolt

I've not heard of an Irwin set. It may sound a bit harsh but why didn't you invest in a set of quality sockets instead of rounding the head off in the first place?

You could try shocking it free by giving it a sharp crack on the head with a small hammer and drift, and then knocking on a 9mm socket which will have this effect and possibly grip the head as well, or as you say, remove the head of the bolt by first part drilling through the head (if you can get at it) and then knocking it off, but see below. (1)

(1) I think it would be cheaper in the long run to take it to someone who has experience of this and who would have had good fitting tools to change it in the first place. Landrovers are big Meccano sets and most jobs can be done by the owner but I think you would benefit from some professional help.

A 3/8" AF socket may be a better bet as its a little larger than 9mm.

Thanks for the replies.

It wasn't me that rounded the head in the first place it was like that when I came to do the work, and judging by the state of some of the other bolts a previous owner appears to have been a bit heavy handed. Found one bolt where the head was sheared off and had just been glued back on.

I am using good quality sockets but there isn't enough of the head left (and wasn't to start with) for a socket to get ANY grip, have tried the 3/8" (thanks EMB) and 9mm. The "Irwin set" are bolt removal tools made by Irwin tools they have a reverse sprial for biting into the remaining head problem is the head is between sizes and they just can't get a grip.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Ben

You just have to go one better :-) I doubt he will have one of those but you never know.

On the other hand, I'm too old and have no experience of TD5's so I don't know how much room there is to get at it. It was just a suggestion without too much thought

I, like you, have sockets covering BS/Whitworth sizes too and tend to forget that for many people there were no tools before metric sizes came along.

I am using good quality sockets but there isn't enough of the head left (and wasn't to start with) for a socket to get ANY grip, have tried the 3/8" (thanks EMB) and 9mm. The "Irwin set" are bolt removal tools made by Irwin tools they have a reverse sprial for biting into the remaining head problem is the head is between sizes and they just can't get a grip.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Ben

Another suggestion. If you can get at it, borrow a MIG set and build the head up in short bursts until you've got enough metal to get a grip on, the heat may help as well.

I had the EXACT same dilemna this week also. There was just no room to get a good grip of the second bolt (including the Irwin bolt grips - they've never let me down before). What eventually worked for me was to hit the side of the head of the bolt using a a big chisel and a hammer. Place the chisel just past the half way mark on side of the head and hit it in the direction to release. I was at it for 2 days until a friend of mine came up with that idea.

Space was very tight and it was difficult to get the FPR off and back on again. We ended up using the same pipes and changed the main body only. There is one bolt particularly difficult as its facing 45 degrees down the way and a right bugger to tighten/release.

Good luck

Peter,

Was that the bolt at the bottom of the FPR? I'm going to try the hammer and chisel approach this weekend but space is tight and it's a difficult angle through the intake manifold. I have tried removing the starter but still don't have room to get both hammer and chisel into the right angle. Its good to know that the hammer approach was successful for someone else.

Ben

On or around , enlightened us thusly:

It may be unjustified, too - could be some previous bungler had already rendered the bolt questionable. I had loads of fun with the stupid (and unnecessary) allen bolts which hold the EGR pipe to the manifold on my TD5, despite using the correct size key, in good condition, one of them rounded out and was eventually persuaded to shift by driving a good-quality torx bit into the hole with a hammer.

(They're unnecessary because a plain bolt would be no less accesible, no need for an allen-head one)

There's also the recent habit of making 8mm bolts with 10mm heads, instead of 13mm, which really aren't big enough when the bolt's been there 10 years

- also, in things which are regularly removed, they wear a lot faster and become problematic much sooner. Whitworth was no fool, when he designed his standard... granted that IF you use superior materials, you don't need such large heads on things, but they invariably aren't that superior, and then the use them for a bolt which goes through an alloy part containing a water jacket, or equally stupid stuff.

On or around Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:15:51 +1200, EMB enlightened us thusly:

Although interestingly, since I couldn't find my 11/16" AF impact socket the other day, I found that the 18mm one was quite reasonable for getting the wheelnuts off the Morris Minor...

but yes, I've driven 3/8" onto a knackered 10mm bolt before now. Also on the minor, I filed down a very odd-sized badly rusted bolt (11/32" AF fitted the one in good condition) to 8mm so as to be able to replace it. Of course, the ideal solution would have been a new bolt, but that wasn't likely to be easy to find. That was after shifting it by hammering an 8mm

Its finally out. Thanks for everyones suggestions. I couldn't find anyone with a MIG welder. Found the easyist solution in the end was to remove the intake manifold and use a hammer, chisel and grips to slowly shift the bolt. .