I just made a bad situation worse, need help

One of my exhaust header studs broke off. You know, let me give it one more turn to make sure. I put a couple of pilot holes in, ofcourse off center, then tried an easy-out. That broke off and now the thing is so hard I can't make a single chip. How can I drill the hole mess out?

Thanks,

 

I feel for you!! I just recently have replaced 4 rusted in broken off bolts on my CJ7. What a nightmare. Some I knew about and were there awhile, and some were new. Still got one more to do.

Guess it is to late to say this, but I have never had good luck with easy outs. My procedure:

Use a dremel to grind the bolt face as smooth as possible.
Center punch the bolt.
Use a very small drill for the first hole.
start working up one drill size at a time. Use patience and lots of PB Blaster to keep things lubed.
I bought some cheap left hand drill bits. They have worked once or twice on smaller bolts, causing the bolt to back out on it's own while I was drilling.
No matter how careful I am I usually end up slightly off center. I stop one drill size before what would usually be used to drill a new hole to tap new threads.
Then I use a punch or small screwdriver to knock the remains of the bolt loose from the hole. Sometimes all that is left is a very thin part with threads.
If I stayed center I go up to the proper size hole and use a tap to "cut out" the remains of the old bolt/threads. Even if I am off center a little I have had good luck using a tap to clean out the remains of the old threads, still leaving enough of a threaded hole for the bolt to go in a have some torque.

This is a skill you get better at with practice, unfortunately I have had a lot of practice over the years working on jeeps.

Only thing I can think of for the broken off easy out is maybe use a dremel with a tungsten steel cutting bit to slowly grind it out?

Just brainstorming here--use a gas torch to heat up the tap as much as you can, then let it cool slowly. That might take some of the temper out of the tap, making it easier to drill out?????

 

I have not had good luck with easy outs either. How deep is the pilot hole? Deep enough to use a small chisil and hammer to break the easy out. That was how I got my broken piece out. HTH

 

I follow the same route Greg suggests.
this takes patience, so don't hesitate to just walk away for a while if you're frustrated.
I would suggest the hammer/small chisel route also for the easy out.
Pound it around, knock it loose.
Sounds easier said than done, I know.
If no success, then $$ drill bits to drill it out carefully.

 

One of the machinist's magazines had an article about welding a nut to the broken stud and then using the nut to spin it out.....

1) get the easy-out out of there if you can
2) find a nut the next size smaller than the bolt that broke off
3) weld into the center of the nut to join it to the broken stud
4) try to back it out.

This of course implies that you have the welder/skills to pull it off, and obviously, you don't want to slip and weld the nut to the block itself. The whole point of doing it this way is that the heat from welding will expand the broken stud, thus "crushing" the rust inside and freeing it up once it cools down.

I wish you the best in this...

OH, and while you're out and about, pick up some anti-seize for the new stud

 

From a machinists standpoint, easy outs work good, the average backyard mechanic does not have the right tools to use them properly. Never, never, never, never, use a wrench of any kind to turn an easy out, get a T handled tap wrench or a tap handle, nothing else.

1-Grind the stud off flat.
2-Use a punch to mark the center of the bolt or stud.
3-Use a Center drill to start the hole, drill deep enough to get the chamfer in there.
4- Use a drill 1/2 the size of the final hole.
5- Drill with the size you want for final size.
At this time either re-tap the hole or start to remove whats left of the broken stud with a small pick or something with a sharp point and then chase the threads.
6- remember patience is a virtue, and when frustrated walk away.

These are center drills, a must have, short and stubby and they don't flex or walk around:

Also, a common mistake that I see with alot of guys using drills is they run the thing way to fast, when using a drill bit with a hand drill keep the rpm in the 350-750 range, no faster, tapping oil works good for lubricating the drill bit.

 

You can try a carbide tiped massonry drill on the easy out. The easyouts I have seen are extreemly hard and have dulled every high speed twist drill I've ever used. I grabbed the only other drill I had and had success with a small carbide tiped drill. Once you have a hole in it of a fair size you can try the cold chisel, what you will be doing is chipping bits of easyout away from the body of the broken off body.
The easyout will shatter, when it has had enouth, wear glasses.
I am going through the same process now.
I even have have the joy of self lubricating the rusted stud with Glycol, yes I went too deep with my pilot drill, and hit the water jacket. I am thinking of driving a brass pin into the hole then a little JBWeld in the bottom running a tapto clear the threads then putting a stud in.
Good luck

 

This is interesting...I have the rear-most stud in my F-134 broken off, that I'll have to deal with one of these days. The motor is out of the frame, so it will be easy to work on.

 

I just had a similar issue on a volvo turbo I was workin on. Studs on the turbo to hold the exhaust downpipe on were old and nothing could pull them out. I wound up pulling the turbo out and taking the exhaust housing side off. After grinding the studs flush I simply welded some old nuts onto the stud and the came out. I also used this technique last week to get a broken stud out of an aluminum head. The stud was about 3/16-1/4" down in the hole, but came right out without messing up the head.

I don't know how well that would work with an easy out in there, but it might be a last ditch effort if you have to.

Kevo

 

Once you remove the EZ out, try left hand drill bits. Sometimes they will twist out what is left of the stud.

 

Did it break off flush to the side of the cylinder head? You might be able to take header off, and grab what's left of the stud with a pair of vise-grips. Make sure they're REALLY tight!

 

I have found in my case anyway the last few times that a good working relationship(they do it...you pay them) with a trustworthy local machine shop is invaluable. I've done it many times successfully several times unsuccessfully. I don't do that sort of thing any more every day. I'm taking it to someone that does. Because if they make it worse they are in a much better position to make it better than I.

 

Thanks for all of the help. I learned a lot.

First, go to church instead of working on the Willys early Sunday morning. I guess the main thing IS patience and finesse. I drilled a few tiny holes around the easy-out and punched it in. With some high strength lock tight I think I saved it. The block is cracked anyway so it goes next summer. The stud was 57 years old so I had a better chance at Power Ball as to backing that thing out.

Oh yeah, at least I have a welder on the list.

Thanks again,