Help me with this bolt situation (picts)

[hunterhicks]

OK, fixing up the front suspension- and noticed some riggin' from another owner. Bad rigging. The front crossmember is somewhat notorious for seizing bolts, and you have to cut/break them off to get them out.
One side is healthy, fine. One side is ugly.

What they did was, it seemed to break the head of the bolt off, then they drilled out the broken bolt, but they did so off center. So, I have a large off center hole in this busted bolt. After that, they seemed to say 'screw it' and then welded on a bolt on top of the hole where the real one is supposed to go, and then they just put the crossmember on with a nut.

Options here?
-is there a way to access it? (I assume there is no way to get into the frame rail)
-try an easyout (which I'm sure they already have)
-any other tricks out there?
-weld a bold back on and say 'screw it'
-is this a legitimate fix, with the right weld?

The location- this the passenger side with all suspension/steering removed- you can see the lower control arm mount for ref.:
http://www.hunterhicks.com/tech/location.jpg

This is the healthy one on the driver's side
http://www.hunterhicks.com/tech/healthy.jpg

This is the ugly one, on the pass. side.
http://www.hunterhicks.com/tech/ugly.jpg

Thanks!

 

[68torinogt]

your gonna have to rebuild the hole and nut in the area and reweld it if you want it right.

 

[66 BLAKE 96]

Ewww. I'd be tempted to drill it out as best and square as you can and weld (good, solid weld) another stud in there. And this time make it strong, and in exactly the right place.

 

[hunterhicks]

I am assuming there is a nut welded on the indside of the frame... does anyone know? If I were to drill it out without damaging the threads, that would be great. if I wiped out the threads, would there be enough 'meat' to retap it?

I notice that the schmo that drilled it last time went pretty far- probably about 1-1.5 inches- without popping out the backside of the bolt fragment- If I kept drilling that hole, it would weaken the bolt more- might be able to get it out that way.

I hate broken bolts. not as bad as broken rocker studs though.

 

[brin0357]

Cut it out and reweld a new one in. Easy

 

[Martyred]

oh dear god, i read "broken bolt" and blacked out...

In cause you didnt know my car has been unable to run because of one bolt stuck in my head (the car head, not my head.. although i do feel screwed).

 

[zookeeper]

Although this may or may not be useful to you, as a machinist I see lots of broken bolts. The worst thing is when a well-meaning customer has tried to get it out themselvesm but they don't know what they're doing. Here's some broken bolts basics: first, buy a set of left-hand drills. They work very well at getting out bolts that aren't too rusted in or galled from not using an anti-sieze compound. You usually have to drill most of they way into the bolt, although you may get lucky and have it spin right out. BTW, remember to reverse your drill when using left-hand drills. Also, select a small drill first (for instance, use a 1/4" drill in a 1/2" bolt) and work your way up. If you get to the tap drill size, there should be nothing left of the bolt anyway and you'll be able to pull the threads out with needle nose pliars or run a tap in and get out the thread remnants. That is, if you started near the center of the broken bolt. if you absolutley have to use an EZ-out (I can't figure out why they named them that, they should have called them impossible-to-drill-after-they-break-hole-plugs because that's pretty much what they are), be extremely careful not to hammer them in too far. The EZ-out is tapered and they drive the broken bolt outward, causing the bolt to grip the hole even harder. If you can tap the EZ-out in, then heat the part the bolt is in, causing it to expand, and hopefully loosening the bolt. Good luck!

 

[CarlF250]

First, I would go to Sears and buy a Craftsman screw extractor set (assuming you don't already own a set) and at least try to get it out with that. I can't tell from the picture if the previous owner tried it or not. Even though the hole is off center, there is a chance it might work.

If that doesn't work, I would use a small rotary tool (Dremel), and grind the bolt out. But don't get too close to the threads. The threads will most likely fall out once you grind off enough of the bolt. I don't remember if the hole is threaded as long as the bolt or not.

Good Luck!

 

[TOM B]

The bolt has been in there rusting for years and probably broke because of that rust or has been striped then broke, If you have access to a welder I would cut out the whole thing with a hole saw big enough to get around the nut on the inside, they used caged nuts in the frame rails so I would use a 7/8 to 1 inch hole saw, After the piece is out get some metal the same thickness, drill your hole and weld a nut on the back then weld the plate back into the frame, You can get a square nut at the hardware store as this gives you more room to weld to.

 

[hunterhicks]

What I ended up doing:

yeah, there was no way to do anything with that bolt... I tried drilling it with a bunch of different bits, and NOTHING really even scratched it.... (odd) I could cut the frame and all that stuff, but I'm not that crazy.

Sooooo, I took the old advice from the PO, and I welded on a new grade 8 bolt, just like it was before I started messing with it!

works like a champ!

not great, but, eh.