Dam F@"king bolt

Sorry, can't help, but it's good to see I'm not the only one having a bad day :/

The message from "Dr Gonzo" contains these words:

Are they Allen - or Torx?

You can get them funny shaped nut/bolt removers that you hit over the top of the bolt head and then undo...

Never used them mind....

Tom

If you have the access then drill the head off or drill and use an 'Easy Out' extractor. If you are lucky you might get an 'Easy Out' that fits in the existing Allen key hole negating the need to drill. Or grind one down until it does fit (bodger).

If it's any consolation I had the same choice to make on Friday just gone. I chose the bathroom plumbing. I fared little better there and wished I'd chosen the car..

Vin.

Maybe I've been unlucky, but I have never had any success with 'Easy Outs'. On broken stud or bolt, their very action swells the stud/bolt making it even tighter, and if you continue trying to turn them, they break off in the hole. At that point, you're worse off than before, as you no longer have the option of drilling out the broken stud/bolt. AFAIC they are useless things. I picked a set up in a job lot once. I gave them away. If you want tools to remove broken studs/bolts etc, the cheapest solution is to buy a selection of l/handed drills. They either drill the stud/bolt out, or the broken piece frees off and the drill unscrews it. Mike.

I couldn't agree more. The idea is brilliant but they just don't work because, as you say, they expand the bolt.

Rob Graham

If you have a dremmel type tool, stick a cutting disc on it and make a cut/groove in the top of the head. This will enable you to use a flat headed screwdriver in it. You can also use a junior hacksaw etc. as well to do this

Mat

I've never come across an allen head that is deep enough to take an easiout without drilling - the taper on those is too shallow.

An allen bolt is the easiest sort to drill out - you already have a good centre.

If that fails, try soaking around it in WD40 overnight, then returning with some mole grips. In theory it's doubtful that this bolt was originally tightened too much, and it's "only" rust holding it. If you've got room for mole grips you may just crack it.

Other idea: last time I had a problem like this I sacrificed an old socket that didn't quite fit *over* the bolt head - jsut wacked it on with a hammer, the hex points bite into the outer of the allen head, and then you may just be in with a chance.

Good luck!

After more years than I am prepared to admit to working on aircraft I can say I find them indispensable. The knack is getting a size strong enough to do the job without removing so much material from the bolt/screw/stud that you weaken it to the extent it deforms under the load. Also - drill as deep as possible. It is tempting to drill a shallow hole and use a large EO when it is more successful to drill deep and use a smaller one.

If one does break in the hole you can usually shatter the remains out with a hammer and pin-punch.

Like most things it is 'horses for courses'. Some people fare better with one technique than others. I've never got on with using heat as a method of release. Though that is maybe more down to my aircraft background again. They don't like you waving blowlamps at them... :-)

Vin.

Which is why I suggested grinding one down until the tip diameter is just right for the recess. Not something I would normally do as the Allen head is usually too weak - which is why it rounded off in the first place. If you can afford to bodge a set though it can sometimes work and obviate the need to drill. I have my 'good' set and a collection of 'modified' ones in my toolkit.

Vin.

I'm prepared to believe that they might work on aircraft components where corrosion is probably not very severe, but I can assure you that that procededure doesn't work on something like a broken exhaust manifold stud on an older car, that's in been there for years. Any EO will either break or spin in the hole if you keep turning it. Guaranteed..

On occasion I have carefully drilled a well rusted stud with the thread core diameter, and still had trouble removing the the small coil of remaining thread, because rust has virtually bonded it to the thread in the stud hole.

More likely to drive the EO tighter into the hole IME. EO's are heat treated to be tough rather than hard, and as such, do not shatter that easily. They're like good hexagon key in that respect.

An oxy-acetylene torch is what's really needed if using heat to remove rusted nuts or bolts, as one can rapidly get a small area red hot without heating the surrounding area too much.

IME, drilling a hole, driving in the square tang of a file, then gripping and turning the exposed portion of tang with Mole grips or similar, is far more likely to be successfull than an EO. Mike.

There are some removers that work on this sort of principle. PC did a test some months ago of all the various kinds. I'll see if I can find it tomorrow.

Cheers Dave. I'd certainly be interested. I've never seen any like that in any of my tool catologues. Mike. .