Snapped bolt, need help

[Pajjy]

Bear with me while i explain the situation.

Attempting an engine transplant on my fourby i have arrived at a problem, the new engine, now in the car, has a snapped bolt in the head where the water pump is attached, its right at the front.
There is no radiator in the car so there is a fair amount of room, and i have purchased some ezy-outs to try and tackle it myself.
However, after a few threads on here and youtube videos i have come to the conclusion that i will probably do more damage by trying to remove said bolt by myself.

Anyway i've called around for some quotes from various mobile mechanics and its around $100 callout and $100 p/h after that, what im worried is that the mechanic is going to have a go, get stuck and then tell me the car needs to be towed to the workshop to get it out. I'm a student who cant afford to get caught up in hours of labour at a workshop, hence doing the swap myself.

So as a last ditch effort to find a solution im writing this thread to hopefully find someone who is confident in dealing with a stuck bolt, i know the deal, it could come out with a little heat or need ezy out, or it could all go pear shaped and require drilling and a helicoil in the end. I just need someone with more exp that me to make a judgement on what to do.

I also don't have anything like a welder to weld a nut onto the end, or anything to freeze the bolt.

So if theres anyone out there willing to help me out i'll reimburse with ample beer of choice, or cash if it comes to that, i would just rather pay someone on psb (or someone recommended by psb) to help me tackle the job

Thanks
Mike

[milesiles]

Where is the car? You got tools? Drill, drill bits, hammer, centre punch, vice grips?

[emrys74]

Pic will be handy
have you taken the water pump off ?
is the bolt snaped flush with the block?
snaped going in or comming out ?
what sort of motor? Alli or cast iron?

[Pajjy]

I have basic tools, sockets, spanners, (crap) drill, standard ball pein hammer, 3 pairs vice grips. I have basic tools and box from my mechanic apprenticeship i started a few years ago. No centre punches.

Vehicle is in my mates garage in harrisdale.

[Pajjy]

Sorry no pic atm but i'll work on that, No water pump attached. new pump in box waiting to go on, there is a little bit of the bolt sticking out that could be welded to or cut a slot into it.
Im guessing snapped coming out, as it was already snapped on the engine when i bought it, and it did not come with a water pump.

Its an astron 2.6 4-banger out of a mazda 2600, the vehicle its in now is a Pajero, so im guessing cast iron block.

[emrys74]

pm a pic when you get a chance
liking the welding at the moment and get spme wd 40 or similar on it asap

[Pajjy]

Ok, im in brentwood so i don't get to work on the car often, i will spray the heck out of it as u said. Is there anything else i can put on it in the meantime to make the end job easier? I have plenty of WD40.

I'll get pics asap.

[Captain Starfish]

1. Soak it in WD40 now. That can do its thing while you gin around working out what to do next.

2. Stud sticking out? Start by borrowing or buying a Dremel or cheap clone and cutting a slot in it, then go nuts with an impact driver. Don't go to all the slotty effort and then fuck it up with a Stanley screwdriver, go straight to the impact driver and belt that puppy loose.

3. That'll work. If it doesn't, time for some very careful drilling - the wider the hole the better - then get your shitty Stanley flat head screwdriver out, belt it into the hole and have another go.

[Pajjy]

I have a blue point impact air ratchet from my apprenticeship days, but no compressor, Is that what your talking about or one of those screwdrivers that you smash with a hammer (for want of a better explanation)

[Pajjy]

[Captain Starfish]

Smashy smashy is what I was talking about.

[Pajjy]

Ah righto, yeah i have read about that as an option, however, i had to borrow 3 separate engine cranes over the space of a few months to actually get the old engine out and the new one in. (Low budget student)
I have come to realise it would have been better to leave the engine out and deal with the bolt, but since its now in the car i don't think there is enough room to get a good swinging into an impact driver.

[smeghead]

. beg borrow or steal a set of metric taps & a dremel, get some very sharp drill bits

. centre punch the end of the bolt as accurately as possible, this is critical to the success or otherwise of the whole process; cleanup up broken end of bolt with dremel if necessary (as stated above)

. start to progressively drill the bolt out, upping the size of the drill bit in small increments; use one of the other bolts as a guide to the max diameter drill bit to use; measure the diameter of the bolt then subtract the thread depth & then substract a little more for safety; be careful on the depth so you don't drill into the aluminium housing; if you have taken the time to be accurate with the centre punch then this is slow but simple to do

Use the taps (should be at least 3 per diameter) to clean out what is left of the bolt from the threads and to prep the whole to receive a new bolt; this is a slow process but a simple one, use cutting lube to help the process along (WD40 or INOX at a pinch)

Alternative but prob cost more than its worth would be to drill out the bolt to maybe 2/3rds of the above diameter (not all the way through either) & then tap a fine "lefthand" thread into the hole, get a matching high tensile bolt & as you tighten the left hand threaded bolt it will wind out the right handed stub, very similar to how an Easyout works but far less dangerous as the bolt is high tensile and hence not brittle.

First option is best but ..

[Hired_goon]

Left-handed drill bits FTW!

Heat and action usually does it all in one go. Just be accurate when drilling.

[shan]

Left-handed drill bits FTW!

Heat and action usually does it all in one go. Just be accurate when drilling.

Could not agree more

[agrid]

I'd try vice grips but make sure they are new ones with really sharp teeth and do them up really really tight. No harm in trying.

[dirt_infected]

Lots of good advice but I will add you should take your easy out set and throw them off the tallest cliff into the deepest ocean you can find.

Fucking things.

[Pajjy]

Lots of good advice but I will add you should take your easy out set and throw them off the tallest cliff into the deepest ocean you can find.

Fucking things.

Haha yeah ive heard horror stories that prevented me from trying by myself.
Ive tried gripping with vicegrips but i was just chewing the remaining peice of bolt, and i didnt want to jeapoardise any chance of welding if it came to that.

Ive looked around for lefthand drillbits but no luck yet, also my drill is huge and im afraid of hurting the thread if im not perectly in line.

[Hired_goon]

Ive looked around for lefthand drillbits but no luck yet, also my drill is huge and im afraid of hurting the thread if im not perectly in line.

I got mine from Wurth. Not cheap though.

[milesiles]

Ive looked around for lefthand drillbits but no luck yet

I buy mine from Westrac. You can buy them separately so just the sizes that you need. They are a headfuck to sharpen yourself though until you get the hang of it.