Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2010 18:57:27 -0400
Reply-To: David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject: Re: Well so far it's beat me. >:-(
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At 06:27 PM 8/9/2010 Monday, Courtney Hook wrote:
>2) Vice Grips on outside - just spun around the bolt even though I
>reefed them on there as hard as I could, and checked I had clearance
>to spin the grips. No way.
>3) Took a cold chisel and ridged the outside circumference to get
>the vice grips to bite better instead of spinning. No way, still spun. :-(
On the bolt -- I think welding might be the best answer -- make sure
that your ground doesn't go through any bearings, or at least any
you're planning on keeping.
Your Visegrips didn't work because they're fairly soft, I
expect. You might try the smaller of the two that are specifically
designed to grasp hex nuts without marring them -- they have a vee on
one jaw and a nub on the other. If you really reef them down they
can apply remarkable pressure and just might succeed. Putting some
tension on the bolt while tapping moderately with a light hammer will
often succeed either immediately or after a wearying time. Putting
tension on while freezing the bolt may very well succeed -- use
"Dust-Off" type spray and hold the can upside down so it feeds
liquid. Ultimate temp can get to -20F or better.
See if there's a Torx-series bit that you can drive into the
hole. I've had surprisingly good luck with that sometimes.
On fluids -- PB Blaster has a much better reputation than WD40 as a
penetrant. Many machinists swear by a mixture of acetone and
ATF. Acetone is pretty nasty stuff -- very flammable, very volatile
and will suck the oil right out of your hands. Heating the joint and
applying paraffin wax is favored by some.
There exist sockets which are meant to remove mangled nuts -- sort of
the inside out of an EZ-out. I used to own some -- larger than you
need -- and they were very effective. Apparently someone else
thought so too. Dunno if they come small enough, but check with your
local Snap-On or Matco guy.
Any kind of shock loading is very effective on unsticking bolts. You
might try grooving the head with a Dremel and using a hand impact
wrench with a flat bit.
>4) Threw a temper tantrum and spoke in tongues I learned in the
>Army. Wife not impressed. Me either.
Silly man. These are German bolts and only respond to German
swearing, and only the highest quality of that.
Good luck,
David