Crank Bolt/Pulley Halp...

[Delraco]

My 86 eta project car has been misbehaving every time I go to work on it.
I'm blaming the inanimate object rather than myself because I'm mature.

So anywho, I'm just about ready to FINALLY piece this bitchass car back together when...

*yoink*
I twist the head off of a crank pulley bolt. Barely exerting any force. old bolts? I dunno. No big right? Just drill in, and then use an easy out. zoop!

Problem: I had used red threadlocker when installing the bolts.

After much toiling it's clear that the threads are stuck permanently.


Here is how it stands:

^^^That bolt is 100% smooth and flush right now BTW





So the question is...Has anybody installed a crank pulley with only five bolts before? Would that throw the crank out of alignment, or would it be fine so long as they're threadlocked? It's against my nature to do that, but I currently lack the resources to easily pull the crank bolt and replace the pulley mounting piece. Dafuk?

[Bretts85E30]

I dunno about alignment cuz all it holds is the harmonic balancer on which 5 bolts should hold just fine but its better safe then sorry with that vital piece right there is recommend just heating it up with a torch to soften the metal just a lil so u can take a reverse drill bit to it and remove it thats how I've removed broken studs from exhaust manifolds before

[jlevie]

Remove the crank hub. Drill a small (~3/32"), centered, pilot hole. Then heat the hub to 350-400F and use a left hand twist drill just a bit smaller than the body diameter of the bolt. It should spin out while you are drilling. You need to use drill press to make sure that the drills aren't going in at an angle.

Never use red locktite on anything that you can't easily heat up without damaging something else. On this part no locktite is needed at all. Wave washers are all that is needed.

[jeffnhiscars]

Another possible concern if you dont do this right is that your hub and harmonic balancer will be out of balance (an out of balance balancer...hmmm).

One bolt head may not weigh much, but then this thing is spinning 3-5k/min. We know what a thrown wheel weight does to a tire which is only spinning at maybe 1\4 the speed of your crankshaft.

Just sayin

[navytapaul]

Prolly doesnt help that we broke the easy out off in the bolt...

[the_ps]

A new one is $70 give or take. Since it's not a wear part and it's steel, a used one would probably be under $10. Borrow a 3/4" impact wrench, take off the bolt, rent a puller, take off the hub, and put it back together. Do use red loctite on the crank bolt.

[Delraco]

I was concerned with the balance as well...yikes

For my particular situation and what you all are saying, it sounds like replacing it would be the safest bet. I don't have access to all the fancy parts needed to properly drill it out and the threads are already pretty gnarly.

Red loctite just got me into trouble on my e36 today. Twisted a strut bolt off in the hub. I went through a breaker bar+loctite phase awhile back. Now I'm paying the price!

Thank you all for your input, and thank you Paul for your help.

[navytapaul]

No problem, guess we have to pull one off some for unsuspecting eta now. Time to hit the yards again.

[jlevie]

Do use red loctite on the crank bolt.

No don't use locktite on the crank bolt. Tightening it to spec is all that is needed.