Seized Allen Bolt Removal - Your Method?

[wolfgal]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Interesting.
I’d never heard of a “Snipe” Bolt Extractor.
➥ https://www.newmantools.com/snipe.htm

me neither.

thank you for the link with explanation, Gord

[leftbrainstuff]

Drill them out. Internal wrenching heads perfectly align the drill bit. Use good quality HSS jobber bits and a slow speed.

If you size the bit just under the id of the thread you can part drill then use a stud extractor to remove the remains without dropping any swarf or metal into the cavity.

I have a 30 yr old Snap On parallel extractor set that work great.

[pstadt]

To all the great info providers - thanks!

I soaked them with PB Blaster the other day, gave them a whack and let them sit for a couple of days. I bought a socket with the correct sized Allen fitting for a 3/8" driver yesterday. Sprayed them a little more today, gave one a whack and tried out the new Allen socket/driver - shazam! I was really relieved that I wouldn't have to get the torch fired up and all I needed was one of these bolts on each hub in order to remove two of the folding blades' pins and then the blades. That's all I need in order to slide the new fairing boots over the prop/hub and finally up the sail drive.

I neglected to take any pics today, but next time I work on the sail drives, I'll include a shot or two.

Cheers!

Pat

[Shaneesprit]

i hope while being busy with other things - you have at least already applied some kind of penetrating lube?
The longer you leave the lube the more likely it is to work its way in

[pstadt]

All done! It was nice not having to heat and beat. Once the bolt was removed, a couple of taps dropped the pivot pins and the blades pulled right out. I finished work on installing the new sail drive boots today and reinstalled the prop blades, putting some anti-seize on the retaining bolt. Assembly was much easier that disassembly.

Thanks again to all who provided suggestions!

Pat

[purvisgs]

A couple things that haven't really been mentioned..


-Penetrating oils; acetone/atf is ok and of course cheap (make sure you use "old school" atf without a lot of fancy additives), but it's handy to have a good spray bottle setup for it, which could be kind of hard to find.. about on par with "pb blaster" which I consider pretty good penetrating oil, also fairly cheap. Kroil is the best and probably worth a couple extra bucks. Despite what a lot of people think, wd40 is not a penetrating oil at all.



For a torch; a portable mapp gas torch is a small step up from propane (higher temps) but still small and relatively cheap



For drilling out bolts; worth it to buy a left hand (reverse) drill bit/set. Often it will catch at some point & unscrew the bolt before you even get to messing around with an easy out. A dremel with the right grinding stone or small drill bit can also be handy for drilling out stainless, small bolts, hardened steel, etc & in tight spaces.

[roverhi]

You might try the jumper cable trick. Hook jumper cables up to the battery as you normally would. On the other end put a bolt (1/4" x 2" bolt works fine) in the postive lead clamp of the jumper cable. Clamp the negative lead as close to the offending bolt as possible. Touch the bolt in the positive lead clamp to the head of the fastener. You set up what is essentially an arc welder. Will heat the fastener to a cherry red if left in contact long enough. It also gets the fastener way hotter than you can with a MAPP torch. It works really well as it only heat up the area of the fastener and not burning up the surrounding country side like you do with a torch. It is really the only way to get serious heat to a fastener if there is painted surfaces or plastics close by. Quench the heated fastener with penetrating oil. Try to remove the fastener with an impact driver, either manual or power. Repeat the process till you break the fastener loose. Other than using the trick to remove all the fasteners on a 44 year old mast, used it to get corrosion welded Allen bolts out that passed through substantial aluminum castings on my self steering vane.

Having said the above, the hardest fastener to remove is not one that is threaded into aluminum but one that simply passes through an aluminum casting like cleats, etc. Getting the bolts out of the self steering casting took something north of 25 iterations, heating with the jumper cable and quenching with penetrating oil over many days. A good idea to coat the shaft of any fastener in aluminum cleats or castings with Lanocote.

[owly]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

I have had success with socket head cap screw by cutting of an allen key so it is only a straight portion then gripping it with a set of vice grips and whilst applying a little torque hammering the top of the allen key.

This is the answer that works in almost every case. Shocking the bolt lengthwise as if you were trying to drive it INTO the hole like a nail will loosen the corrosion that is holding it in. It should be done with penetrating oil having been applied before. You will not weaken the bolt by applying more rotational torque than it can handle. If it will not give with reasonable torque hit the bolt using the cut off allen wrench as Raymond describes... try again... and again, and again, never applying more torque than a bolt that size should be torqued to... Be patient. Go home and have a beer, and try again tomorrow. Keep the heat application to a minimum.... Use a heat gun, not a torch. Heating and cooling shocking the threads along the axis of the bolt...it will eventually give. If you try and force it rotationally, you will lose that battle. This is a game where the tortoise wins the race. This is the kind of situation I encounter in my profession all the time....... I just ignore the clock and take as long as it takes.......If you break it, the cost is far more in time and money than the hours you put in getting it out right. These are not large bolts if I'm not mistaken, and small bolts, once broken are almost impossible to remove with an EzOut, so you are going to end up buying a casting if you break it. Worse yet, companies upgrade and improve all the time, obsoleting parts if not whole units, and you can end up not being able to replace it at all....


Be Careful... Take Your Time

[JasonL]

If the position allws it, a "dam" made of childrens "plasticene"/ mdelling clay/Play-Dough, around a fastener, to keep a well of the various fluids, in place, to hopefully allw them to soak into the roots of the threads. May need a few days and a bit f patience, also, multiple applications of the fluid you se.
Yes ATF and Acetone is great, as s PB Blaster, however, PB is not readily available Worldwide.

[fcftampa]

I think this is great material and very much related.
I have nothing to do with this guy; just sharing what I think has value to the forum.

Project Farm
did a couple of must watch videos the last being the best.

Penetrating Oil Showdown Episode 2. Will Seafoam Deep Creep prevail?

No nonsense testing without fear of offending anyone since he isn't paid by the products he tests.