Help getting sheared bolt out of its home

[yod]

any help anyone can offer would be welcome

im mounting a new piece of fairing and the main side mount for it is normally a 10cm bar that bolts on the underside of the main frame - there is a threaded hole there for it (M6 bolt i would think)

right hand side is fine and still stock i think - left hand side has been binned in the past and the bolt has sheared off almost flush with the frame....not much poking out at all - not enough to get to get vice grips on it...so....

i dont really wanna take her for a decent spin until i get it sorted in case the wind damages the fairing if its not held on strong enough - and i cant see any other suitable points to attach a bracket to in the vicinty

anyone got any experience with this or got any suggestions?

thanks

ps: can send/post pics if anyone thinks it might be useful

[Ixion]

EzyOut. From your friendly local tool merchant. Or drill it out and retap. Though M6 is pretty small. Touch it with an arc welder and vicegrips on the blob?

[yod]

thanks for that....whats ezyout?

i had thought of dropping into an engineering place and maybe doing the weld trick but would rather do it myself if i can....

[Babelfish]

Since its only an ikkle bolt, get a good quality ezyout kit. The cheeper ones (from the likes of supercheap auto) dont have a fine enough tip.

Essentially what happens is you drill into the middle of the broken bolt shaft...easier said than done since you can have a point on the top of the bolt where it sheered. Then you screw the ezyout into the drilled hole, but it screws in anticlockwise. Once it screws in far enough (not far) it grips and then starts (hopefully) twisting the bolt back out.

I did this most recently on a rocker cover bolt. Drilled it first with a fine drill, slowly to get a good start near enough in the middle of the bolt diameter. I a: didnt want to drill off centre to avoid rilling out the side of the bolt an into the head (read: paranoid) and b: did NOT want to snap the drill in the bolt as that somewhat raises the stakes.

I got a nice start with the fine drill, then again with a slightly larer diameter drill that would allow the tip of the ezyout to enter it. Then twisted in the ezyout and all done.

Biggest thing if you havent done it is to take your time and follow the measure twice cut once attitude.

Ive attached a pic of the ezy-out for you.

You can either use a small cresent to turn it, but since you're getting the kit, I'd suggest getting the proper handle while youre at it. Just ask the bloke at the engineering place you go to.

[Dodgyiti]

Since its only an ikkle bolt, get a good quality ezyout kit. The cheeper ones (from the likes of supercheap auto) dont have a fine enough tip.

.

True, and the metal is soft. You only get one decent chance at it, so quality tools win over frustration every time. I soak, and soak again the threads with CRC/WD40 etc for as long as possible if it looks in the least bit corroded.
Good luck, these things are sometimes sent to test us, and sometimes they relinquish easily.

[yod]

thanks for the help lads....will give it a crack and let you know how i get on....

[Madness]

Techweld in Tremaine Ave should have a selection. There are reverse spiral extractors and tapered square variety, I prefer the square ones, K.D brand.

[peasea]

any help anyone can offer would be welcome

im mounting a new piece of fairing and the main side mount for it is normally a 10cm bar that bolts on the underside of the main frame - there is a threaded hole there for it (M6 bolt i would think)

right hand side is fine and still stock i think - left hand side has been binned in the past and the bolt has sheared off almost flush with the frame....not much poking out at all - not enough to get to get vice grips on it...so....

i dont really wanna take her for a decent spin until i get it sorted in case the wind damages the fairing if its not held on strong enough - and i cant see any other suitable points to attach a bracket to in the vicinty

anyone got any experience with this or got any suggestions?

thanks

ps: can send/post pics if anyone thinks it might be useful

I've extracted heaps of broken or siezed bolts over the years and the advice so far is pretty sound. You mention that the bike has been binned and that indicates to me that the bolt/stud was sheared off, not broken trying to extract it with a siezed thread. With that in mind you may find that the remaining piece of bolt is just sitting in there, offering no resistance. I have sometimes managed to get bits of broken bolt like that out by gently tapping a sharp centrepunch (or even a sharpened nail) on the outer edge of the broken face, rotating the broken piece of bolt a small amount at a time. After a minute or two you'll have enough to grab with pliers or whatever. I'd try this first as the comment about only getting one shot at it is spot on. Don't rush it!

[yod]

thanks for the infor on techweld maximus - i was wondering where to start looking!
i'll definitely try the gentle tap approach first peasea - thanks for that, could save me some time, money and a bit of buggering around!!

cheers again people...watch this space....

[MikeyG]

If the hole has no back end to it (i.e. the bolt can be screwed out the back) just try drilling a hole in the middle of the bolt first. The friction from drilling on a small bolt can be enough to spin the bolt and screw it out the back.

[yod]

If the hole has no back end to it (i.e. the bolt can be screwed out the back) just try drilling a hole in the middle of the bolt first. The friction from drilling on a small bolt can be enough to spin the bolt and screw it out the back.

yeah i thought about that but its kind of a last option cos the hole is actually in the main frame so
1) i cant tell if it goes all the way through or not
2) if i did screw it through ill end up with half a bolt rattling around in the frame!!

(might be a hole i can get it out somewhere - haven't really looked..)

cheers

[Babelfish]

Na mate, get the ezy-out kit. Its not that expensive and you WILL use them again at some point...I've pulled mine out about 5 times and they easily pay for themselves the first time you use them.

[yod]

just checked out the kit - $62 (thats the one with both the ezy out bits and the matching drill bits too)

[Madness]

If $$ are an issue for you, you can buy the spiral extractors individually at around $10 each, and drill bits to suit at $2 each also.

The kits usually go up to no.5, that's a pretty big feckin extractor & probably makes up a fair part of the price.

Blackwoods/Paykels are in P.N, as are General Machinery & I think Trade Tools are still there also.

You should be able to get the job done for $15.

[Babelfish]

And for you is that good or bad? Like I said, it will pay for itself just using it once. But if you do alot of your own work, you will need it again.

Is that kit with the tap handle too?

Also, how fiddly is the bolt to get at? Is it tucked away or looking straight at you?

[yod]

geez maximus....you're a veritable ocean if handy where-to-get-oddball-tools-palmy-north kinda guy aren't ya!! thanks mate - i was wondering if anyone did them separately instead of the 5 size/pack version

not sure whether it had the tap handle....was really looking for it cos i didnt know it might have one.....

i dont think it's very likely i'll use it again/much....very unlikely if i'll use the bigger sizes at all so the single size miight work better....

the bolt could be a bit of a prick - have to have another look. it comes directly out of the bottom of the frame but (i think) it might be directly above where another part of the frame crosses...bugger....not too bad to try the tap/punch approach but getting a drill in there straight could be a mission....will see later tonight!!!

[yod]

scratch that - just check some photos and there isnt any part of the frame in the way WOOHOO! but might have to work a few drain hoses and/or part of the loom out of the way

[Babelfish]

sweet, flick some pics up of the bolt, and also of the skinned knuckles post hose removal

[yod]

the offending bolt bit is GONE!!!

don't you love that feeling when you got some pain-in-the-ass mechanical annoyance and then you just try something and it works like a farkin dream?

i drilled into the bolt with a 2.5mm bit (very gently) made about a 3mm depth, then took a 100mm fencing nail (now THATS classy...) and smacked that into the hole a few times in an attempt to make some edges in the hole, then put a small hex drive bit in the bat-drill and start drilling in reverse, spin spin spin catch!! and it just screwed out.....

happy farkin happy, joy farkin joy....now i just need to find a new mount for that side...hmmmm

thanks for the advice lads....put me in the right direction

[Dodgyiti]

I've extracted heaps of broken or siezed bolts over the years and the advice so far is pretty sound. You mention that the bike has been binned and that indicates to me that the bolt/stud was sheared off, not broken trying to extract it with a siezed thread. With that in mind you may find that the remaining piece of bolt is just sitting in there, offering no resistance. I have sometimes managed to get bits of broken bolt like that out by gently tapping a sharp centrepunch (or even a sharpened nail) on the outer edge of the broken face, rotating the broken piece of bolt a small amount at a time. After a minute or two you'll have enough to grab with pliers or whatever. I'd try this first as the comment about only getting one shot at it is spot on. Don't rush it!

So true, I would try that first, but to me that is a given, must remember that not everyone has had the sufference of this happening before. Also just drilling the hole for the ezout can get it turning, or I use a mini gas torch for a bit of persuasion. Snapped bolts can be hard to remove if the remaining bolt in the hole is in any way bent or distorted.
When I was a poor apprentice (back in the day..:zzzz: ) I would drill the bolt out as much as I could and ram a smaller bolt in the hole with a hammer ( using full engineering training) and then try undoing the bolt and it would take the thin wall and threads of the stuck bolt out with it, but that is a bit rough.

[Ixion]

I have had surprising success, on larger bolts , by drilling the appropriate sized hole and putting in one of those "Dynabolt" things that are used for attaching stuff to walls. You wind the bolt head and it locks into the hole. Then grasp the whole dynabolt with vicegrips. This is particularly sueful when the offending bolt is broken off down inside the hole so that you cant easily get at it.

[classic zed]

Drill a hole in the bolt and tap a "TORX" bit into it, torx bits are usually very hard and will cut themselves into the hole nicely, I have found that with ezyouts sometimes if the hole you drill is too big whats left of the bolt is too thin, because the ezyout is tapered it can spread the bolt and lock it in the threaded hole.

:yes:

[scumdog]

Be wary of ezy-out type tools- they CAN cause the drilled out bolt to 'swell' or swage out as they get screwed in and lock things even tighter.

[peasea]

the offending bolt bit is GONE!!!

i drilled into the bolt with a 2.5mm bit (very gently) made about a 3mm depth, then took a 100mm fencing nail (now THATS classy...) and smacked that into the hole a few times in an attempt to make some edges in the hole, then put a small hex drive bit in the bat-drill and start drilling in reverse, spin spin spin catch!! and it just screwed out.....



Couldn't have been that tight then huh? Lucky lad. Any light engineering shop could make you a mount if you can't buy one. Good on ya.

[rifleart]

Try and get it right the first time otherwise it can get messy.:rockon: