CAB bolt broke in frame

[Farbin Kaiber]

Glad to hear you got it resolved and back on the road. Congrats, I bet it feels good.

[gtdragon980]

Well just to update this thread with good news, I finally fixed my car and she's on the road once again! I ended up drilling the bolts straight through and used a heli-coil on both holes. Both bolts screw in perfectly and tighten down nicely, but I will check on it in a week to see how it's holding up! Thank you for the help guys!

[browntown]

50/50 mix of acetone and ATF fluid is the best penetrant, even better then commercial products like PB blaster.

Not to take us too far off base. The veracity of this claim is disputed. The internet is full of a certain test that compared this mixture to everything from wd-40 to kroil (BTW, as a kroil devotee I'll pass on this deal http://www.kanolabs.com/google/). This test has not been repeated. Also, most people say that the original test was Power Steering Fluid and not ATF. I know they are very similar. The big question mark on the test is how well liquid wrench fared when most people consider it to be sub standard to even PB blaster.

It get's mentioned on Garage Journal fairly regularly. There is no doubt the mixture is good, especially if you already have those ingredients lying around your shop, but the study is questionable. See

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59511

[gtdragon980]

I keep hearing about EDM but it sounds costly! And yes the transporting would be quite difficult as well. I'm still searching for a good on-site welder.

[jlevie]

Yeah at this point drilling is prob going to be a waste of time. Nothing you have in your garage will drill through a broken extractor. Depending on how deep the nub is you might be able to drill to it, but don't expect to drill out that chunk.

Correct, to a point. A left hand twist solid carbide drill will drill out the extractor. But that is not something that you will find at other than a machinist supply house. There is about a 70% chance that the remains of the bolt will back out while it is being drilled.

Machinists make lots of quick money taking out extractors and drill bits. Ideally you could hit it with an edm machine, but getting your whole car to a machinist might be difficult.

EDM is the method of choice for this, but transport of the car to a shop is going to be a problem.

The welding trick will work in some scenarios, but isn't neccessarily for the beginner welder if the sheared bolt is below the surface. You might want to talk to a local machine shop and see if it is within their ability to come to your house and weld on a bolt to take it out, or tell you if you're going to need a bigger repair. Take a photo with your cell phone that is clear, and talk to them. They've pulled every bolt out in their career.

This is a good option and should work. But you need a pro to do the welding.

[AndrewBird]

If it is sticking out slightly, use a center punch and a hammer to try and tap it out. Hold the punch at and angle and try to tap it out in a circle. I've gotten MANY broken bolts out this way.

Also, 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF fluid is the best penetrant, even better then commercial products like PB blaster.

[Farbin Kaiber]

No worries, it's a lesson you can pass along, much as I have tried to do in this thread. No pun intended.

[gtdragon980]

Well then, seems as though this may be my only option to salvage the threads on this, so I will see to it that I find a good welder to do this for me! And trust me, I will not be using that impact to loosen that bolt, let alone tighten another bolt again! I could have avoided this altogether!

[browntown]

Exactly, wait till you can find someone with a welder. The more you mess with it at this point, the more chance you wont leave enough material for a welder to easily throw a nut on it.

[Farbin Kaiber]

^

The bolt is sticking out maybe 1-2mm but it is not enough for some vise-grips to twist out.

Someone local with a welder should have no problem getting it out, just be patient, and take your time, once you get a nut tacked on, DO NOT use an impact to try and zip it out.

[browntown]

Yeah at this point drilling is prob going to be a waste of time. Nothing you have in your garage will drill through a broken extractor. Depending on how deep the nub is you might be able to drill to it, but don't expect to drill out that chunk.

Machinists make lots of quick money taking out extractors and drill bits. Ideally you could hit it with an edm machine, but getting your whole car to a machinist might be difficult.

The welding trick will work in some scenarios, but isn't neccessarily for the beginner welder if the sheared bolt is below the surface. You might want to talk to a local machine shop and see if it is within their ability to come to your house and weld on a bolt to take it out, or tell you if you're going to need a bigger repair. Take a photo with your cell phone that is clear, and talk to them. They've pulled every bolt out in their career.

[Farbin Kaiber]

^ I learned it from a Farmer.

[mrsleeve]

Weld a nut to the broken off bolt portion?

Image for comprehension...

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=62298

The heat from welding helps break the bolt threads loose as well.

This is what I was going to say. Old farmers trick and works 99% of the time like a fucking charm.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Just FYI, I suggested the welding method first, as I have personally been through this whole fiasco with broken exhaust studs. I broke off an extractor, and then tried to drill it out, but the extractor is hardened, and it ate up expensive drill bits, I ended up towing the car to a friends shop, and in the end, we had to weld a bolt to the end of the broken off bolt/extractor, that was below the surface none the less, and had to build up a weld blob just to get up to the surface so we could tack a nut on the end.

[gtdragon980]

Wow, thats a great thread! Thanks for posting that, it will definitely help me out with what direction i need to take next. Im thinking the LH drill bit is the best way to go aswell, but im just worried about the small piece of the extractor bit that still exists in the bolt. Hopefully cobalt will do the job!