Chewed up screw/bolt heads

[bunglehaze]

Hi folks, just wondering what you all do in the event you have chewed up screw or bolt heads on your bike and need to remove a part? I have a few on my bike which I will need to replace but getting them out is looking difficult.

2 main ones at th moment are the cargo hook screws that hold on the laft panel on my ZZR although I do have a couple on the front inside on my bellpan too.


cheers

leigh
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[Blau Zedong]

Drill the heads off and then extract the remains with a good set of molegrips. If they are going to come out they'll come out this way, if they are really seized then the molegrips may well shear it off flush, but you wouldn't of undone it anyway.
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18:54:48 Rob Fzs: jews don't give away stuff for free

18:54:59 Rob Fzs: unless its their clothes/ hair/ golden teeth

[Cillit-BANG]

And if the molegrips do shear it off flush, you need to get yourself a set of stud/screw extractors for about a tenner. These screw into the remains (pilot hole first of course) and have a reverse thread which will unscrew the stud.

A couple of mins with a blowtorch followed by a cup full of icy water will also help break the seal, esp. if threadlocked.

If that fails then you'll need to have it professionaly removed using a spark thingy.

[Blau Zedong]

Stud extractors are a worry for the reasons Cillit said, i.e. they are made of a very very hard material and if they snap off in there then they are not drillable. It's knowing when to give up before you snap the extractor . For standard sizes like M5 - M8 it's cheap enough to drill the offending stud out in stages and helicoil if the worse happens. God I hate seized fastners! My boss asked me to try to get the front disc bolts out on his son's KX100. Got 5 of the 6 out with a good screw driver and a big hammer. The remianing one hasn't moved at all. Countersunk M6 so might find if i drill the head off it there isn't enough to grab with molegrips
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18:54:48 Rob Fzs: jews don't give away stuff for free

18:54:59 Rob Fzs: unless its their clothes/ hair/ golden teeth

[JBurrows88]

I have a similar problem with my bike....

The screw was already rounded off before i even touched it!

i need to take the seat off my bike and the srew is rounded off and it is screwed into a weilded on nut (weilded on to frame)


This means i cant drill the screw out and i dont have enough room to kick the shit out of it with a hammer. i need to remove this screw.... what should i do?


(sorry to steal thread)--


What are molegripers and what is 'helicoil'
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Dave
XJR400 Kenney Roberts Paint Job

[Zimbo]

Those screws on the ZZR shouldn't be too hard so should be a reasonably easy job.

Method 1 - drill a small (say 4mm) hole part way into the centre of the head, use the middle of the X to guide the drill bit. Now knock a slightly oversize torx bit into the hole you've drilled so it grips, and use that to drive the screw.

Method 2 - you'll need a pointed punch, fairly sharp. Hammer the point into one of the edges, then use the indent you've made as a purchase and hammer the punch at an angle to drive the screw out anti-clockwise. Repeat at a couple of points around the perimeter of the head if it's stubborn. This method works well, the shocks of the hammer blows help to stop the thread binding.

[bunglehaze]

No thread stealing apologies needed, we are all in the same boat

Molegrips are basically locking adjustable pliers that have a vice like grip

https://images.google.co.uk/images?q=tbn:ySD2KxW3ifOgbM:https://www.espocatalogue.org/wcsstore/ESPO/prodimages/F47457.jpg

Like the idea of method 1, never thought of doing something so simple. I will have a look on fleabargain for a replacement bolt set before I start this unless any of you know a decent supplier?

cheers

leigh
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[zorgman]

i use female torx skts and hammer it on bolt/screw head works mint also for allen bolts male torx belted in and out they come

[Cillit-BANG]

www.stagonset.co.uk for your bolts.

An impact driver may be worthwhile if you have lots of seized bolts. They are cheap and suprisingly effective.

[bunglehaze]

AFAIK they are not siezed, in fact I undid one of them about 2 weeks ago but the threads were rounded off then. The only reason I am looking at this is because I want to customise the backend of my bike and cant even get the panels off.

cheers

leigh
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[Vincent]

Have you tried soaking them overnight in PlusGas

[Odie]

[loply]

When you say the "threads are rounded off", do you mean the head on a hex bolt? Or the internal pattern of a socket cap (allen key type) bolt?

In either case I concur that mole grips are a bloody good way to go.

I've also found that a repetetive cycle of heating and cooling and repeated spraying of oil helps loosen them.

From my experience a lot of bolts will simply round off with an impact gun, and then come out with mole grips.
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Yamaha SZR660 Caution to the wind, the throttle pinned!

[bunglehaze]

its the thread on the head not the bolt itself, so basically the philips driver/torx fits fine but does not grip enough to turn without creating more damage.

The problem have at the moment with it is that the main culprits are flush fitted inside the cargo hooks on the back, no way on earth im getting grips in there so it looks like a possible drill job.

cheers

leigh
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Motorcycle Products Reviews and News
06 - ZZR600 > 07 - ZX6R J1 > 08 - ZX6R J2 > 09 - ZX636 A1P > 11 - ZX10R C1H

[finpos]

The impact driver mentioned earlier in the thread I think refers to the hand held ones you can pick up quite cheaply and that you have to hit with a hammer. The advantage of this over an impact gun is that when you whack it, it drives it's bit into what's left of the slot/cross on the fastener, so it gives you one last go before it rounds off completely. An impact gun will simply make mince of it.

If you can find a "real" tool shop, go in and buy an anti-clockwise drill bit to drill the heads off. If the fastener is not actually seized, you will probably get lucky and the anti-clockwise bit will bite into and unscrew the fastener for you.

Drill SLOWLY, if you generate any heat you will ruin both the drill bit and the plastic panel.

finpos.

[ddracer]

Sometimes if you have enough thread showing you can mig weld a nut to the top of it and undo it like a bolt. Welding it also heats it up and loosens it. This works well on bleed nipples.

DD

[Dazbo666]

I've got exactly the same removal problem with the thread left behind in my right foot peg. Looks like the previous owner may have snapped the hero blob off the peg, but the thread is still in there.
I tried last night to soak the thread/peg with WD40 then "coaxing" the thread out with a drift, then a screwdriver, but doesn't seem to want to move yet.

It's not a major problem cos I may replace the pegs in the not too distant future anyway... ATM I'm just using the bike as a learning experience/project bike thru the winter... and getting some riding experience in between doing her up
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1st bike (Sept'06 - May'10) : 1991 GPZ500S / Current bike (since Nov 2009) : 2003 Suzuki Bandit 600N
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[loply]