Just when it was all going so well........HELP!

Post by **youngun** » Tue May 06, 2008 7:14 pm

Well, after a succesful day yesterday of spraying a few more engine parts, i set to on continuing to rebuild the engine. Today I countersunk the two holes on the timing plate, bolted that on and fitted the Duplex chain kit, then turned my attention to the oil pump at the rear. I filled the pump with oil, put on the gasket and started to tighten up the bolts, they all felt a bit stiff towards the end of putting them in.....somethings not right i thought, so i took them out again to see why they were getting tighter the futher they went in. The bottom two came back out first, and then joy of joys the third one snapped off as i was undoing it! I now have a nice bit of stud in the block which is pretty much flush with the gasket face

What should i do now?

YG

Post by **Mogwai** » Tue May 06, 2008 7:31 pm

The best method would be to get the bolt drilled out & helicoiled.
other option would be to try an easyout but these rarely work

Post by **chickenjohn** » Tue May 06, 2008 7:32 pm

I would see if you can weld a nut to it or another bolt and undo it that way.

Or drill it out (carefully and tediously) and tap the threads.

Or build up a snot of weld on the face of the bolt and undo that, with mole grips or file a flat on the big snot of weld and use Irwin Bolt grips (see machine mart website).

Post by **youngun** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:01 pm

Hmmmm, im not keen on the idea of welding close to cast iron.......would that be ok?

Post by **Packedup** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:10 pm

You won't be welding the cast, just the end of the bolt!

If anything, the heat might help free it up a bit.

I'd go with welding a nut onto it and winding it out if it's flush or nearly flush.

You could try drilling it and using an extractor, but chances are you then end up with a bit of bolt and teh end of a broken extractor in there..

Post by **youngun** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:46 pm

Packedup wrote: You could try drilling it and using an extractor, but chances are you then end up with a bit of bolt and teh end of a broken extractor in there..

Ha, ive had that happen a couple of times!

Ill try the nut trick sometime.

thanks,
YG

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:48 pm

Your bolts must be too long for that pump! Carefully drill it - or try welding a nut on the broken end. Trouble is - what did the bolts hit when they went in too far ?? Have a look inside and see what could be in the way.

Post by **youngun** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:34 pm

bmcecosse wrote:Your bolts must be too long for that pump! Carefully drill it - or try welding a nut on the broken end. Trouble is - what did the bolts hit when they went in too far ?? Have a look inside and see what could be in the way.

Having had a look at the pump, bolts etc i have come to the conclusion that the bolts are indeed too long. The holes for the bolts appear to be blind holes. So no worries there, just got to remove the stud, and find some bolts of about 8mm shorter length.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:46 pm

Provided the threads in the block haven't been damaged. Can you not just shorten the existing bolts - obviously not the broken one !

Post by **downsey** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:53 pm

I definitely would not want to weld on those bolts. Arc strikes might occur and could ruin the bearings.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:14 pm

Just make sure a good earth is attached to the block - and NOT to the crankshaft! Then no path through the bearings.

Post by **youngun** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:32 pm

Damn it im worried about this welding now!

Post by **Matt** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:45 pm

How much stud is sticking out from the block? If you can't screw a nut on then forget welding it on! your more likely to weld the screw to the block

Post by **WPR678B** » Wed May 07, 2008 5:43 pm

Your best bet is just to drill it out and re-tap the hole. At least that way you don't have to worry about the welding and the bolt extractor wouldn't work anyway as it sounds as if the threads are damaged and would need re-tapping anyway. I personally would not consider either the welding or stud extractor options. Your call though mate!

Post by **youngun** » Wed May 07, 2008 7:53 pm

Hmm this is a tough one, drilling out seems the best option at the moment. But its hard to drill through it straight and true......

Post by **youngun** » Thu May 08, 2008 6:08 pm

Time for an update...........we have "great success", after carefully measuring the diameter of the bolt, i found the closest drill bit i could, and carefully drilled the stud out. I was then left with a very very thin bit of the stud left which then just pulled out life swarf

Now though im an oil pump bolt short, has anyone got a spare set as the threads on the other 2 are a bit ropey??

Thanks for everyones help,
YG

Post by **WPR678B** » Thu May 08, 2008 8:59 pm

Well done that man!

If no-one else has a set of bolts, then i could probably take a set out of an engine at the weekend for you if thats any help?

Post by **youngun** » Thu May 08, 2008 10:57 pm

WPR678B wrote:Well done that man!
If no-one else has a set of bolts, then i could probably take a set out of an engine at the weekend for you if thats any help?

That would be brilliant if you could, i rekkon you could get away with chucking them in an envelope and putting a stamp on 'em!

Post by **RogerRust** » Fri May 09, 2008 7:06 am

I have to say last time I sheared a bolt in the block I took the block to a local machine shop and £30 later I cillected with the stub removed.

The way I looked at it was £30 was better than fighting with it for days then paying them £50 to put it right!

Post by **youngun** » Fri May 09, 2008 4:32 pm

RogerRust wrote:I have to say last time I sheared a bolt in the block I took the block to a local machine shop and £30 later I cillected with the stub removed.

The way I looked at it was £30 was better than fighting with it for days then paying them £50 to put it right!

Thats all well and good if you live near to places, but when the "local" machine shop is a 70 mile round trip.........it makes more sense to do it yourself, luckily i was successful this time