So as you may or may not be aware, I am in the middle of a 3.73 LSD swap on my beloved Verty30. Well I disassembled the new/used differential for a refresh including a friction plate/dogear and seal replace. First, I cleaned it up then drained the gear oil, opened it up and all was good. Painted the case and things were lookin sharp.
Then I finally received my ECS seal kit and new dog ears and friction plates from ThayerMotorSports. Excitement littered the air, gentle readers. I pictured myself sitting in the Verty30 blasting off the line, smiling as I blew past all the great unwashed. So onto the dreaded carrier cap bolts. You know, those 8 bronze, soft headed, 6mm dirty SOBs that are loctited into the clutch housing.
Well, I was not going to fall into the stripped bolt trap, no not me, the Captain of the Verty30. I was going to take my time and carefully remove those bastards. So I started with a 6mm Allen socket on a 3/8 socket. Those bolts chuckled at my feeble attempts to loose them from their 27 year old dark holes. Onto the 1/2 ratchet...no luck. Then the Dewalt electric impact drill...not even a twitch from those bitches. Desperate times calls for the big artillary.
Out came the air tools. Cranked up the air to 125 lbs and with a steady hand and steely cold stare I pensively with a light touch hit the trigger and joy oh joy that bolt came loose and backed right out. Onto the next bolt in a star pattern and “bazeet bazeet” out came those tortured souls, one by one. God I was so proud of myself to the point of almost being smug. BMW intelligentsia going on and on about how difficult these bolts are to remove and I was absolutely handling them like feeble flees.
The last bolt lie dead ahead. I stopped and whispered to myself, “go easy big boy, you got this, we are home and onto the fun of repacking that clutch pack. “Bazeet, Bazeet, Bazeet.” Then horror, Dismay, Agony, Misery, Dispare, Anger, Panic, self loathing all filled my beer bloated brain. The damn bolt head stripped out and rounded into a perfect smooth circle and I was so pissed I just kept hitting that air gun trigger in the hopes the bolt would feel bad and jump out of the hole just because I’m the Admiral of the Verty 30. But alas, it stared at me with its rounded out insides smirking at my long gone smugness.
How to get this bastard out? First I PB blasted it and waited. Put vice clamps on and nothing. Drove to automotive store and purchased the fanciest, shiniest most expensive vice grips I could find in the hopes that the bolt would be so impressed with my purchase it would roll over and give in. Well, that was a pipe dream...didn’t budge. Ok onto heat. I heated that bastard and PB blasted it and then heated it again. Nothing. Repeated the process, nothing. Repeat...nothing...Vice grip spin...nothing. Back to heat...no movement. Now I’m getting depressed and concerned. A day has already past and many many hours of toil.
Tried something a bit crazy. Heated it up again, then took a big heavy chisel and 3 pound hammer and banged a nice dent in the side. Then angled the chisel and smashed it three or four times. Nothing. Banged the dent deeper. Then just like the fabled John Henry I raised my hammer and sang, “Oh John Henry, told his Captain, that a mans gotta act like a man and before that bolt beats me, I will die, with a hammer in my hand.” I let that hammer fall and the SOB moved a few millimeters. I laughed like a madman out loud. I hit it and hit it and hit it and booooom it was out. I WON! Here are my tools and the defeated SOB bolt.
[IMG]
[/IMG]
[IMG]
[/IMG]
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Then I finally received my ECS seal kit and new dog ears and friction plates from ThayerMotorSports. Excitement littered the air, gentle readers. I pictured myself sitting in the Verty30 blasting off the line, smiling as I blew past all the great unwashed. So onto the dreaded carrier cap bolts. You know, those 8 bronze, soft headed, 6mm dirty SOBs that are loctited into the clutch housing.
Well, I was not going to fall into the stripped bolt trap, no not me, the Captain of the Verty30. I was going to take my time and carefully remove those bastards. So I started with a 6mm Allen socket on a 3/8 socket. Those bolts chuckled at my feeble attempts to loose them from their 27 year old dark holes. Onto the 1/2 ratchet...no luck. Then the Dewalt electric impact drill...not even a twitch from those bitches. Desperate times calls for the big artillary.
Out came the air tools. Cranked up the air to 125 lbs and with a steady hand and steely cold stare I pensively with a light touch hit the trigger and joy oh joy that bolt came loose and backed right out. Onto the next bolt in a star pattern and “bazeet bazeet” out came those tortured souls, one by one. God I was so proud of myself to the point of almost being smug. BMW intelligentsia going on and on about how difficult these bolts are to remove and I was absolutely handling them like feeble flees.
The last bolt lie dead ahead. I stopped and whispered to myself, “go easy big boy, you got this, we are home and onto the fun of repacking that clutch pack. “Bazeet, Bazeet, Bazeet.” Then horror, Dismay, Agony, Misery, Dispare, Anger, Panic, self loathing all filled my beer bloated brain. The damn bolt head stripped out and rounded into a perfect smooth circle and I was so pissed I just kept hitting that air gun trigger in the hopes the bolt would feel bad and jump out of the hole just because I’m the Admiral of the Verty 30. But alas, it stared at me with its rounded out insides smirking at my long gone smugness.
How to get this bastard out? First I PB blasted it and waited. Put vice clamps on and nothing. Drove to automotive store and purchased the fanciest, shiniest most expensive vice grips I could find in the hopes that the bolt would be so impressed with my purchase it would roll over and give in. Well, that was a pipe dream...didn’t budge. Ok onto heat. I heated that bastard and PB blasted it and then heated it again. Nothing. Repeated the process, nothing. Repeat...nothing...Vice grip spin...nothing. Back to heat...no movement. Now I’m getting depressed and concerned. A day has already past and many many hours of toil.
Tried something a bit crazy. Heated it up again, then took a big heavy chisel and 3 pound hammer and banged a nice dent in the side. Then angled the chisel and smashed it three or four times. Nothing. Banged the dent deeper. Then just like the fabled John Henry I raised my hammer and sang, “Oh John Henry, told his Captain, that a mans gotta act like a man and before that bolt beats me, I will die, with a hammer in my hand.” I let that hammer fall and the SOB moved a few millimeters. I laughed like a madman out loud. I hit it and hit it and hit it and booooom it was out. I WON! Here are my tools and the defeated SOB bolt.
[IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG][IMG]
[/IMG]
Comment