On busted nuts

"PowderHound" (PowderHound) 07/24/2020 at 16:31 • Filed to: None

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Let’s talk about my least favorite thing to do ever; extracting busted nuts. In my lifetime I have managed to shear off probably shy of 50 bolt heads. Of those I have successfully extracted maybe 5 of them. The rest were “nonessential” and left to sit there, forgotten, never to be mentioned again except in wild thought of “maybe that’s a decent project to tackle this weekend”. Then reality hits and we go on pretending they longer exist.

My most recent foray was taking off my undertray to drain coolant. Easy enough. First 3/3 bolts instantly shear off. Luckily there are plenty of plastic pushy guys to hold it on and some ingenious zip tying to keep everything on. However, I did actually try to get these out since the undertray is warped and I would like to get a skid plate that usues those bolts to mount.

Unfortunately, I was in a small space on my back and messed up getting everything aligned. The drill bit is not centered, will not get centered, and I am on the edge of the bolt and touching the frame. After all this rambling we finally come to the quetion: how would you drill these out with the drill not being center on the bolt?

1) To hell with it. Keep drilling. Hope for the best.

2) FIRE! ?

3) Something else

Tools at my disposal: drills, bits, left hand drill bits, propane torch

Tools not at my disposal that seem to help alot: Welder

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > PowderHound 07/24/2020 at 16:42

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Do you have a smaller left hand drill?

One option, if still proud of the  Surface  Dremel a slot. Put a screwdriver/chisel on the edge And try to hammer out. Had a rusted one and 2 wacks had it loosened.

MonkeePuzzle > PowderHound 07/24/2020 at 16:44

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they never break in an easy to reach place. on your back, at an angle, overhead, in the dark is apparently what weakens bolts

BigBlock440 > PowderHound 07/24/2020 at 16:46

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No hammer required.

I’d soak them in some type of penetrant, then use a few left handed drill bets going progressively larger in the hopes that it’ll back itself out.  Once you get to the edge of the threads, if it didn’t back itself out, keep going and re-tap to whatever size you finish with.

dogisbadob > PowderHound 07/24/2020 at 16:51

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Just drain the coolant in the radiator. The other plugs are impossible to do, like you point out.

PowderHound > BigBlock440 07/24/2020 at 16:52

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I have a broken one and I can never seem to find a new one. I just got the left handed bits so I’m going to give those a go for sure. I have heard great things

PowderHound > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 07/24/2020 at 16:54

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I only have my large corded Dewalt for the drilling, I can just jack my car up higher for more room. The last attempt was a super quick give it a try and give up sort of deal. I will have to see if I can do the dremel method. I personally don’t own one but one of my housemates does

PowderHound > dogisbadob 07/24/2020 at 16:55

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The whole coolant saga is over. This is just trying to come up with a project to do this weekend and finally, maybe, figure out a decent way to extract broken bolts.

dogisbadob > PowderHound 07/24/2020 at 17:04

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ok

My bird IS the word > PowderHound 07/24/2020 at 17:25

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Got a bolt extractor? Looks kinda too small though.

Kroil is my favorite for the really bad stuff. They don't sell it on stores though.

Future next gen S2000 owner > PowderHound 07/24/2020 at 17:42

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Have you considered burn ing it all down and starting again?

Noodles > PowderHound 07/24/2020 at 18:29

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I'm not a mechanic but I kinda like bustin nuts. Maybe it's just me. 

Urambo Tauro > PowderHound 07/24/2020 at 20:05

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Is your automatic punch broken broken, or just stuck? I had a cheap (Harbor Freight I think?) one go limp, presumably due to some small manufacturing imperfection that I couldn’t find when I took it apart. Reassembling it with some light oil did wonders.

PowderHound > Urambo Tauro 07/25/2020 at 00:43

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I’m going to go ahead and say it was because I was frustrated and hit it with a hammer

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > PowderHound 07/27/2020 at 11:48

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Any luck getting out?

PowderHound > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 07/27/2020 at 12:01

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I’m close. I didn’t end up working on it until Sunday and only for about a hour and half or so. I have holes drilled in all three bolts but they seem to be completely rusted in there. Left hadn drill bits and screw extractors basically dug in and wouldn’t spin the bolts at all. I am going to hit it with the propane torch to heat up and try again once I’m home from work. That should be all it needs except for retapping threads or hopefully just chasing the threads.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > PowderHound 07/27/2020 at 12:05

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Also when in doubt soak with penetrating oil

PowderHound > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 07/27/2020 at 12:15

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I hit it with a lot of PB Blaster but the top of the bolts are inside of the front subframe so I had to work against gravity hitting it from the bottom and hoping it would work it’s way up. I need to find some Kroil as I think that works better at seeping upwards

PowderHound > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 07/27/2020 at 21:44

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I ended up drilling everything out and putting in some rivnuts. Should work alright for what it is