ALL MODELS
Freeing Bolts
Freeing rusted and/or seized bolts is an occupational hazard when owning an Alpine. This light hearted article includes some useful tips and hints.
FREEING BOLTS IN GENERAL
When attempting to free off a bolt, that appears to be rusted in, try tightening it a little first. This may sound odd, but it slightly stretches the bolt, breaking the rust seal, and often frees it off first time. Will it still not budge? O.K. it's time for the penetrant, i.e. Duck Oil, Plus Gas, WD-40. I would probably get sued for saying that Plus Gas is the best one to use, so I wont say that Plus Gas is the best one to use! (That should keep the legal boys at Duck oil happy) Soak it and leave it for a while. Over night if you have the time (and patience). It may help to build a little wall of putty (or whatever) around it to allow the penetrant to pool, rather than to run off (the penetrant, not you!). After a good soak try tightening and loosening again.
BROKEN BOLTS & STUDS
TOP TEN RULES
Bolts, screws and studs can break due to a variety of reasons, such as , excess torque (over tightening), impact (oops!), corrosion etc.
If a bolt head breaks off, there are a few techniques for removing the stud. Which method you use will depend on
Methods
Method 1. Vice-grip pliers
If you have a clean, un-seized broken bolt, with a reasonable amount of shank/body protruding (see picture.), then vice-grips are probably the quickest and easiest option. If the bolt is seized, then a good soak with penetrant may do the trick. If not, don't force it, try another method before you dig yourself a deeper hole.
Method 2. Narrow centre punch
This is for similar circumstances to above but the bolt is broken off nearly flush or even partly below the surface (see pictures.). A small sharp centre punch, gently tapped with a small hammer, is very effective for winding out a broken bolt far enough to get a grip on it. This takes a bit of practice but once you get the hang of it, it is very useful. I use this method at work 95% of the time, unfortunately on an almost daily basis!
Method 3. Easy-out Extractor
If a bolt is broken off too far below the surface to use a punch, or it is quite solidly seized, then an extracting tool, such as an Easy-out, may be the solution. Easy-outs are a tapered tool. with four ridges running in a gentle left-hand spiral, down the length. They are normally purchased in a pack of four or five different sizes, to suit different size bolts. Each tool is marked with a drill size. The idea is, that you drill a hole of this size down the centre of the broken bolt, then gently tap the Easy-out into the hole so that it bites into the sides. Then using a tap wrench, or a spanner if you don't have a wrench, turn it anti-clockwise, and the bolt will wind out!
Easy? NO! When the tool bites into the walls of the hole, it has a tendency to push them out and make the bolt a tighter fit in an already tight hole, which, if you are not careful, will snap the Easy-out! Side-to-side bending will snap the Easy-out! A well and truly seized in bolt will snap the Easy-out! Looking at it in a funny way will snap the Easy-out!!
Don't take this the wrong way, I love Easy-outs. They make up most of the remaining 5% of the times when my trusty punch lets me down. BUT, and it's a big but, they are made of a very, very hard material. If you are unlucky enough to snap one (and remember, you snapped the bolt!), you will not be able to drill it out. So if you are not patient and cautious, your bad day will just have got a whole lot worse!
Method 4. Accurate drilling
If you are confident with a drill, it is possible to drill out the centre of the bolt, using progressively larger drill bits, until you are left with what looks like a spring in the hole, which can be pried out with relative ease. In fact, quite often, the heat of drilling will free off the bolt. If you start this method and find that your drilling is wandering away from centre STOP! You may damage the parent thread. This may not be that critical. In some low stress applications a bit of thread damage may be tolerable, but would you want, for example, a brake caliper held on by a bolt with only 3/4 of its thread? This may be the time to chance your arm with an Easy-out or maybe Method 5
Method 5. Drill out and re-tap oversize
Some days it's best to quit while you are ahead and drill it all out, thread and all. It may be possible to then tap the hole to the next size up. I have done this on all the bolts that hold my engine to my gear-box, from 1/4" U.N.F. to 5/16"U.N.F. It depends on what the bolts job was. Another alternative is to fit a Heli-Coil (not a contraceptive). A Heli-Coil is a bit like a spring. I will not go into too much detail, because if you've bought some Heli-Coils, they come with comprehensive instructions, but basically, you over drill the hole, tap it to size as per the instructions, then wind the Heli-coil into the hole with a bit of thread locking cement, such as Loctite***, and Bob's your uncle!
Method 6. Weld a bolt on
O.K. So I said this was a no, no, but in certain circumstances it is an excellent method.
If the bolt is not broken off too deep, and is not in a soft or low melting material such as aluminium ( that's aloominum to our American friends ) then a good welder ( the man not the machine ) can weld a bolt or cap-screw onto the offending stud. A bad welder will either:-
Another option is to weld it in permanently and then re-drill the hole and tap a new thread, but you need to know what materials you are playing with, so seek a pro welders advise
Method 7. Spark erosion
As I said at the beginning, this is not for D.I.Y.ers. A spark eroder is basically a machine with an electrode that penetrates down the centre of a tap, drill, bolt or whatever you have got jammed in the hole. As it penetrates, the offending drill ( for example ) crumbles and can usually be picked out with a point or blown out with an air-line. This is a machine that you would only expect in a large professional engineering workshop, so if you need one, you'll have to pay! That said, if you have broken a tap or an Easy-out in a hole and it's stuck fast, spark erosion is probably the only reliable method of getting it out.