Frozen nuts & bolts: tips & tricks

[rob love]

I was recently removing broken pieces of conduit from the Bren gun carrier elbows. I would stick a 1/4" or a 5/16 bolt into the short broken piece of conduit, and weld it in. One of the characteristics of a weld is that it will shrink as it cools. Once cool, I would screw out the broken piece of conduit. Worked every time. I accidentally welded a bolt onto a piece of brass (or possibly bronze), not realizing it was one of the end collars. It came out just as nicely as any of the steel ones.

The weld trick will also work for bearing races that are either stuck in a bore or else in a bore that you cannot hammer it out of. You can either do a series of short welds in and out, or you can do a weld all the way around the surface of the race. Once the weld cools, the race shrinks and you can remove it. WARNING: Do not try this on a bearing cone that is on a shaft as you will have the opposite effect of shrinking it to the shaft. For those, raw heat or careful use of the cutting torch is in order.

[Jacques Reed]

I agree with all the comments here regarding the use of stud extractors- virtually useless and downright likely to break off causing an even bigger problem. Most seem to be made of drill steel and we all know what happens to drills if you overload them. Perhaps in the past they were made of tougher steel before China became our main tool supplier.

Ron Bishop in his now outdated book, "Rebuilding The Famous Ford Flathead" seems to think they work but I wonder if he ever used one himself? He also says to run a tap through the stud threads in the block which should not be done, just chase the threads, and to get the cylinder block decked which current practice shuns do to thinning an already thin deck.

Having said all that, however, I only once saw an extractor work but it was used in conjunction with heat. A mate of mine removed a 1/4" broken screw from my steering column bracket. First he drilled the broken screw, screwed in the Easy-out, then heated around the screw hole in the bracket. When it was dull red, he was able to easily back out the broken screw with the Easy-out. So perhaps there is limited use of them in some cases- just not engine blocks!

Cheers,

[John Mackie]

i use a method which i works well for me. either drill 2 or 3 small holes radiely on a flat of the nut, split with a chisel .
On bigger nuts drill a hole near the apex of the nut. drill parralel to the axis of the bolt and try not to drill the threads of the bolt. then split the nut. in both cases the operation can br reoeared on the opposite side of the nut,.

[fv1620]

These tools are absolutely brilliant, have got me out of trouble many times. They do it cleanly & particularly in difficult access areas.

http://www.irwin.com/tools/browse/sc...olt-extractors

[Private_collector]

Reading through all these postings on one go, it seems most are in agreeance that modern tools are not a pinch on the tools of yesterday. Easy-outs, vice grips, etc...., will leave you disappointed more often than not. Go to every swap meet that is practical to attend. Buy ancient tools that have stood the test of time, and use those. The modern versions appear to be made of cheese when compared with stuff from the 1950s and backwards. China has a lot to answer for!

[rob love]

Yes, but in a decade or two they will own us. They are quickly buying all the raw resources and energy,already have the majority of the manufacturing capability, and by what I have read, even any gold assets that come available. We are living in a time where things are often cheaper than they were 20 or 40 years ago. We'll pay for that.

Rob