Quote:
Originally Posted by Uplander
Here's an update for those interested in the remarkable stubbornness of rusty, broken bolts.
With the 3mm remaining I managed to cut a notch in the bolt and got a small cold chisel on it. I hit it clockwise and anti clockwise. The gap around the thread opened a little so I sprayed it with Plus Gas which it started to drink willingly so at least it was going to the right place and not on the floor. After some unsuccessful efforts to coax the bolt remnants to move, the bits I was hitting broke off and I was left with a flush bolt.
Enter the neighbour with a right angled drill and cobalt bits. A hole was drilled and an easy-out put in but the suspension hanger bracket was perfectly placed to inhibit any meaningful effort. We even ground down a pair of molegrips to try and get a hold of the wretched thing but the access proved too difficult and still the bolt would not shift.
The next move will be to drill a bit larger and remove the bolt that way and gently re-tap the hole.
If that fails we're thinking about a Helicoil insert. What are the thoughts on using a Helicoil in that particular application?
If that isn't an option I'm not sure where we go next...
Thanks!
Simon
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A heli-coil on a part like that probably isn't going to cut the mustard.
More solid inserts such as time-serts are considered to be stronger but:-
#1 They are flipping expensive particularly for the larger diameters
#2 Position is everything when fitting these things - you're going to struggle to get a good fit for any thread repair system
I personally advocate struggling on with the easy outs - with a view to trying to save the original thread. Heat would be my next choice (but you really need to judge it yourself as I can't tell from my armchair here in Holland how much metal there is on the "chassis" part of the structure - no sense in warping the 'eck out of it just to save the bit you might have to cut and weld back together anyway)