Date: Tue Apr 12 14:58:13 1994   
Subject: Re: Head Work
X-Sequence: 4242

Hi

The LAST thing you want to do is to try and drill out a hardened bolt
with aluminum around. Snapon makes extraction tools which might help -
Find a truck and talk to the driver.

Ray B.

[if he has part of the stud sticking out, removal is trivial.  
The first thing you need to do is find some MO-44 Rust Buster from
Sealed Unit Parts Company.  This stuff is sold in refrigeration 
supply houses and contains some noxious smelling stuff that converts
rust into a soft, gooey mess.  It will free a fan blade from 
a rusted blower motor shaft.  Grind or file a couple of flats
on the stud so a pair of vice grips can get a good bite, soak the stud
in MO-44 a couple of times, go away for half an hour and when you
return, clamp the stud with the vice grips and turn it out.

If the stud cannot be gripped because it does not protrude enough,
get a sharp centerpunch and use it and a small hammer to tap the 
stud out.  Place the point against the periphery of the stud, slant 
it against the rotation and tap it gently.  The stud should turn 
after a good soaking with MO-44.  If GENTLE tapping doesn't
move the stud, heat the block to at least 250 degrees with
a torch or heat gun, apply MO-44 and try again.  If it still doesn't
move, try tapping the stud in the clockwise direction.  Tightening
it will sometimes free a chunk of rust that is binding it.

If it still doesn't move, I recommend against screw extractors.
The problem with these is that they must all be driven or wedged
into a hole drilled in the stud and the force involved wedges
the stud out against the hole and causes it to bind.  Generally, if
the stud remover gets the stud out, it could have been removed more
easily using the punch and hammer trick.  If you want to try a stud
remover, I prefer the type that looks like a 4 fluted tapered reamer.
These seem to get a bite with less radial force than the reverse-
spiraled ones.

What I normally do when a punch won't remove a stud is drill it with
a diamond drill chucked in a dremel tool.  This is fast and is 
much easier to control than a regular drill.  The diamond drill
is cheap (~$8 from Truebite - check 800 directory assistance)
and since it is coated on its sides, can be used as a burr.
After drilling the hole, I use the drill to enlarge the hole 
until it approaches the diameter of the base circle of the threads.
Usually when the walls of the stud are reduced to this thinness,
the tension relaxes and it can be walked out with a punch or even a 
screw driver pushed down the hole.  IF not, I continue to enlarge the 
hole until I see the threads.  Then I pick the remaining spiral of 
metal from the hole.

Another trick you can use if you have a welder is to select a nut
with a hole large enough to pass over the stud.  Lay the nut over the 
stud and then fill the hole with weld metal.  Then simply screw the 
stud out with a wrench.  JGD]

Date: Wed Apr 13 22:29:51 1994   
Subject: Re: Head Work
X-Sequence: 4268

"The LAST thing you want to do is to try and drill out a hardened bolt with
aluminum around. Snapon makes extraction tools which might help - Find a
truck and 
talk to the driver.

Ray B."

According to the tool rental guy, snap-on wants well over $100 for those
gadgets, so even he refuses to buy one.  I purchased a stud remover
(different than a screw extractor), that uses a cam to apply more pressure
the harder you turn.  Worked great for the studs, but its not getting a bite
on the head bolt (aboy .5" to .75" sticking out)  Ive use my dremel and cut
off disks to sort of square the thing up, but its still not budging. 
Tomorrow I try JGD's stuff and the biggest set of Vise grips Sears sells. :^)

[One thing I must stress is that you should be as gentle with this stud
as you possibly can.  IF you just assault it with biggest tool you
can find, you're likely to booger up the head so that you can't do anything
further with it.  If you gently work it with a small wrench and it still
won't budge, you haven't lost anything and you can escalate appropriately.
BTW, if you like dremel cutoff wheels, you'll love the diamond cutoff
wheel that Truebite sells.  About $12.  Cuts like butter and lasts
forever.  JGD]

BTW, Dremel tools are great.  I originally bought one to re-cut the grooves
in my window crank (Jerky had been using vise grips to raise the window :^O)
I especially love the cut off disks.  Ranks right up there with the Tap and
die set for most useful non standard tools I own (Ratchets and screwdrivers
being standard tools)

Shag

PS:  This head will need a complete reworking once I finally get it off.  Any
suggestions on what to get?  I plan to replace everything and want a
performance bent on it.  And just how much is that extrude hone you
mentioned...

From: emory!hpwarq.wal.hp.com!lupienj (John Lupien)
X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list
Date: Aug 1992
Subject: Re: Broken bolt!

> >o Use an "easy-out"
> >	This should prove to be anything *but* easy, if the bolt goes
> >	all the way into the block, but it will be my first try unless
> >	doing so would thwart other ideas.  I'll burn that bridge when
> >	I get to it.  :-)

My best advice regard so-called "easy-out" devices is "don't even try".
The 2% of the time that they don't snap off flush in the hole isn't worth
the other 98% of the time when you now have a piece of really hard steel
in the middle of your formerly-quite-drillable bolt.

> >o Drill out the bolt
> >	My main concern here is avoiding damaging the threads in the
> >	process.  I don't know which is harder, the bolt or the housing
> >	(probably the bolt), so I'll have to be *really* careful to
> >	keep the bit centered.

Yes this requires precision. It is the method of last resort, but it
works so it's hard to complain about the amount of effort involved.
Grind off the end of the bolt perfectly flat, measure the center exactly,
center-punch it hard enough, and work you way up from small bits slowly,
and it usually comes out pretty well. The welding trick John mentions
below should be tried first (wish I had that welder...).

> you have a welder and you have physical access to the bolt.  The idea
> is to butt-weld a piece of welding rod onto the end of the bolt so that 
> you can turn the assembly with pliars or whatever.
> John

-- 
John R. Lupien
lupienj@hpwarq.hp.com

From: John De Armond
X-Source: The Hotrod Mailing list
Date: Aug 1992
Subject: Re: Broken bolt!

>I am currently considering the following methods:
>
>o Use an "easy-out"
>	This should prove to be anything *but* easy, if the bolt goes
>	all the way into the block, but it will be my first try unless
>	doing so would thwart other ideas.  I'll burn that bridge when
>	I get to it.  :-)
>
>o Drill out the bolt
>	My main concern here is avoiding damaging the threads in the
>	process.  I don't know which is harder, the bolt or the housing
>	(probably the bolt), so I'll have to be *really* careful to
>	keep the bit centered.
>
>If you have any caveats about these methods, or any additional
>suggestions, please let me know ASAP.  Thanks.

This is a technique that will work if the bolt stub is not too tight and
you have a welder and you have physical access to the bolt.  The idea
is to butt-weld a piece of welding rod onto the end of the bolt so that
you can turn the assembly with pliars or whatever.  This works best
if you have a  high frequency unit as used for TIG because it makes
accurate arc striking easier.  Clamp a short piece of large welding rod
in your stinger.  Select as large a rod as will fit in the hole.
Set the current for 150 amps or so.  Push the rod down on the bolt stub
and when an arc forms, hold it for half a second and then bury the rod
in the stub.  If your welder has the cajons, turn the current up so
that resistance heating will anneal the joint.  Allow to cool and twist
out with vice grips or whatever.

John

From: John De Armond
Subject: Re: Exhaust Manifold removal ??
Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 18:54:59 EST
Newsgroups: rec.autos.tech

BB Wolf wrote:
> 
> What's the best way to remove exhaust manifolds from a 31 year old engine ??
> Engine is a 69 - 351W from a Mach I and is currently on an engine stand.
> 
> Thanks for your help!

Ultimately, drill and helicoil :-(

The BEST rust penetrator I've ever found is a product called Rust
Buster made for the HVAC industry.  It will take a fan with 20
years' worth of rust on the shaft and set screw and make it just
about fall off.  It's not as good as it used to be because one of
its ingredient was a chlorinated hydrocarbon which is banned.  But
it still works very well.  Available wherever HVAC parts are sold.

the other key ingredient is patience. One must give the Rust Buster
time to work, preferably several applications over a day or more. 
The strategic use of heat helps, of course.

One rather extreme trick I used to get a stud out of the head of a
Mopar small block involved drilling a small hole down through the
stud, large enough to admit a 16 ga hypo needle.  After a thorough
overnight soaking with Rust Buster, I heated the head as hot as I
dared and then sprayed R134a through the needle down into the hole. 
The rapid cooling of the stud inside the hot head caused enough
differential expansion that the stud broke free.  If you have it
available to you, liquid CO2 is even better because it is much
colder and a much better refrigerant.  It's important to hold some
torque on the stud while spraying so that when the rust starts
breaking free, the torque force will hasten it.

John