Broke my head bolt @#%!

[spitfire5454]

so that about sums it up. Last bolt to lossen to take off the supercharger. SNAP! Sheared the head off. Good news is that i have a lot of room and there is about 1/2" sticking out. I was thinking of welding a nut on the end of it . The heat would probably loosen the thread. My question: Is this safe? Could the heat hurt the block? And is it safe to to be welding under the hood? I dont want to blow my self up! Thanks

[Ldub]

Maybe try a heat gun & vise grip first? Even if it doesn't work, the welder is still an option...unless it breaks off further down.

I may be way off, but shouldn't the aluminium heat up & expand faster than the steel in the bolt?

Just be sure all sources of raw fuel are well sealed & there is no residual fuel left anywhere no matter what you decide.

Also be very careful not to chowder up the machined intake ports where the S/C sits on the heads, with vise grips OR welding slag..

Good Luck...

[ZEUS]

Be sure to disconnect the battery before you start welding! Arc welding can actually juice the system (so I have read) and could damage some electronics.

[Techy-D]

Gas welding maybe, but arc welding NOT, because If you were going to clip the ground to anything but the bolt itself you would probably weld the bolt to the block. You're probably way ahead of me on that, but just incase.
I don't think it would hurt to heat up the broken bolt and try to kill off some of that rust, either that or soak it with some Liquid wrench. If you have 1/2 inch left, try a good vice grip or pipe wrench to turn it (Insted of welding a nut on it). With all that said, I haven't had to do this on my VX, just other pojects around the farm, so take it for what it's worth.

[Hotsauce]

Is the bolt in up to the end of the thread?

Is it bottomed in the hole? Check another bolt.

Why isn't it loose now that the pressure from the manifold is off?

Put some penetrating oil(NOTwd40) on the bolt, and tap it on each side hard with a hammer. You are trying to get it to wiggle a bit and work the oil in, or strech the hole enough to loosen.

Keep wacking it till it gets loose. In the worst case you'll have to helicoil the hole.

John C.
Machinist

[psychos2]

Heat the bolt til it is very hot and take a candle and touch it to the bolt and the wax will lubricate the threads and the bolt will come out easily with vise grips . but you do have to get it pretty hot. shawn

[rowhard]

Heat the bolt til it is very hot and take a candle and touch it to the bolt and the wax will lubricate the threads and the bolt will come out easily with vise grips . but you do have to get it pretty hot. shawn

have to remember that one, sounds like a slick trick

[tomdietrying]

Why don't you go to Sears and get that gizzmo that gets what you're are talking about out. It's a two step process. First, you attatch a piece to your drill. Drill a hole into the 1/2 inch sticking out. Next, you attatch another piece and it grips into the hole you drilled and removes it. I think it's $20 bucks.
Peace.
Tom
012009

[Hotsauce]

Why don't you go to Sears and get that gizzmo that gets what you're are talking about out. It's a two step process. First, you attatch a piece to your drill. Drill a hole into the 1/2 inch sticking out. Next, you attatch another piece and it grips into the hole you drilled and removes it. I think it's $20 bucks.
Peace.
Tom
012009

Well intentioned, but don't do it unless its broken off flush.

Getting a grip on it is a matter of friction and leverage. If you drill a hole for an EZ-Out, the leverage is from the center of the hole to the edge of the hole. If you grip the outside, the leverage and gripping friction is nearly double.

I do this for a living. It will come out.

John C.

[spitfire5454]

Well intentioned, but don't do it unless its broken off flush.


John C.

yeah, i thought of that but it isnt flush (yet). Also ive heard that if you happen to break one of those in the bolt, you then have a real mess. So heres where i stand: Heat and vice grips didnt work and if i keep trying i will mess up the threads to where i cant get a nut on if i wanted to weld. So i welded. i put a nut on where the top of the nut was flush with the bolt and welded the top. didnt hold. So i put a nut all the way down to where it is on the head leaving about a 1/4" of threded bolt on top. I then welded the hell out the top of the nut and remainig thread. Ill be the first to say that i am not a welder. It is hideous. It looks like huge goop of melted metal. But i think it will hold. something will have to give. it will either snap the bolt again, the nut will come off breaking every weld on the way up (not likley), or the nut will come loose but the threads are so jacked now that it will have no where to go and the bolt will still come out. i got a little overzealus, so in the morning i have to bust out the dremmel to do a little grinding b/c the welds are sticking out a little and preventing the socket from going over the nut. ill let yall know tommorow how it goes. wish me luck, b/c if this doesnt work, im pretty much out of ideas.

[Greasemonkey]

Snap on do a great stud remover it does need an air gun to use it but it will remove most with a 1/4 to 1/2 inch still sticking out
cheers
Steve

[spitfire5454]

update: After welding the nut on and trying, the bolt snapped again. at this point i was tired of messing with it so i just drilled it out and put a helicoil in it. Went perfectly. I probably shouldve done this to begin with, but i get a little nervous drilling into my heads. But it worked out fine, so now i can get on with my other supercharger repair buisness. Thanks for the help. Oh yeah, are the head bolts special or something, or can i just use a grade 8 hex bolt?

[newthings]

I am surprised the bolt did not come free with the load off.
The lesson is to run a tap down every hole and use Never Seize or other thread lube anti corrosion product on every bolt. You will not get a true torque reading without a thread lube. In critical applications, for the first pass in tightening I torque to about half load and back off twice and then turn to the target value.
Good luck.
Roy

[Rene M]

I am surprised the bolt did not come free with the load off.
The lesson is to run a tap down every hole and use Never Seize or other thread lube anti corrosion product on every bolt. You will not get a true torque reading without a thread lube. In critical applications, for the first pass in tightening I torque to about half load and back off twice and then turn to the target value.
Good luck.
Roy

I have " for the most part" stopped using head bolts for this reason and have moved most of my motors to head studs.. no broken bolts, a better and more even head torque, less failure or leakage from head gaskets, usally cheeper to get a set from ARP than factory head bolts. If you read the fine print , the factory does not recommend the reuse of head bolts, Very few do.
Just some food for thought.

[psychos2]

I have " for the most part" stopped using head bolts for this reason and have moved most of my motors to head studs.. no broken bolts, a better and more even head torque, less failure or leakage from head gaskets, usally cheeper to get a set from ARP than factory head bolts. If you read the fine print , the factory does not recommend the reuse of head bolts, Very few do.
Just some food for thought.

He is talking about the bolts that hold stuff to the head not the actual head bolts. shawn