Morris Minor Owners Club

On one of my brake drums, one of the screws holding it in place has no head from where someone has either tried to remove it or replaced it with a screwdriver thats too small. How can i get it out?

No head at all? In that case, I reckon you're going to need a gizmo called a 'screw extractor' - a long left hand thread screw and handle, which you screw into a hole you drill, and because it's left handed, as it tightens it undoes the right handed screw and removes it. That's the theory, anyway. I've not been entirely successful with them

the head itself hasn't been removed but theres nothing for a screwdriver to grip on.

Same tool will still do it. The only other ways I can think of would be to cut a new slot into the head (Dremel?) and try a screw driver, try welding a lever to it or smash the drum with a hammer and try to get hold of the screw with a pair of mole grips. I hope somebody else knows a magical way - good luck

bg your on a bout a stud extractor drill small hole in the srew head and screw in th estud extractere it will bring out the screw
you can try to use a sharp flat head screw driver and hit it hard to make a mark so that you could unscrew it it work on mine that way

Machine Mart sell them as screw extractors, but yes, that's the one https://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=040213030

i think ill try the stud extractor, although smashing thge drum sounds fun

options:
1) Use a impact driver. either select a slightly oversize bit or a flat bit and hammer it into the head until it makes some purchase, then use the impact driver to turn the bit (impact drivers work best with a BIG hammer)
2) use a pointed punch (centre punch / dot punch) with a hammer and tap it anticlockwise to get it loose - then they are normally fairly free to unscrew by using fingers.
3) get a drill slightly larger than the thread O/D and drill through the head until it comes off the thread - then remove the drum and grab the remaining threaded part with some pliers and unscrew it. with some pliers
4) use an 'easy-out' aka screw extractor with LH bite.

minor_hickup wrote:i think ill try the stud extractor, although smashing thge drum sounds fun

SCREW extractor!

shame far away as you could use mine got all types from 3 mm to 98 mm

This is a stud extractor - https://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=040210057 - This is a screw extractor - https://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=040213030 - I don't really care, but they are rather different things.

bigginger wrote:

minor_hickup wrote:i think ill try the stud extractor, although smashing thge drum sounds fun

SCREW extractor!

would I

The punch method works quite well - Although these screws seem quite soft, so finding a hit through flat headed screwdriver with a blade slightly wider than the hole and belting in to cut a new slot has worked for me in the past

Don't forget to sort it out and put a new screw back in - Wouldn't want the drum falling off at 60mph... ;)

should have a wheel and four nuts to prevent it falling off

Wouldn't want the drum falling off at 60mph...

I thought it was merely an aid to adjust the brakes (i.e. to keep the drum pulled up tight when the wheel is off.)
As SR mentioned, the wheel would have to come off before the drum could!!
If the screws are a bit chewed I tend to leave them out (someone will probably disagree but I've never had any problems from that).

If the screws are a bit chewed I tend to leave them out

Yep same here,

I've used the 'drill the head off' method and on 2 occasions once the head has snapped off the drill has powered the threaded shank through hub and out the back.

Never had any luck with screw extracters but I suppose if the head is creamed the bolt is normally over tightened anyway.

SR wrote:should have a wheel and four nuts to prevent it falling off

Indeed - But when you're freezing cold, in a foot of snow, trying to get the drum off a Mini and find that once again the flipping screws are stuck, rounded etc, your mind does start to do strange things.

Or at least mine does, and I still have nightmares about drum brake screws. I was overjoyed when I discovered the screws on my 2000 came out easily... Not quite so happy to then find the drums are totally seized onto the hubs though, might scrap the car when the shoes wear out at this rate...

I use one of THESE

Packed up wrote:

these screws seem quite soft, so finding a hit through flat headed screwdriver with a blade slightly wider than the hole and belting in to cut a new slot has worked for me in the past

Ditto - I had the same problem, used the same solution. The metal is soft & it's easy to bash a slot into the screw head. Once you've got it out buy a couple of new ones from ESM or another supplier and replace all the screws which have damaged heads.

yeah will do, im lucky as ESM is about 6 miles away!