One for the Mechanics.....damn Bolt
 

Right i have a little issue on my hands with a broken bolt in the clutch fork pin. :(

The bolt i used was high tensile therefore causing me a lot of agro in removing the damn thing. I have snapped many 3.5 and 4mm HSS drills (7 hours of drilling using an air die grinder) and have just ordered myself another set of Cobalts as i cannot find my old set.

Thought i would ask the question and see what methods others have used in removing snapped bolts in these pins whilst in position?

I have tried welding and its a no goer, i would have been still drilling the damn thing but the capacitor on my compressor has just blown after 7 hours of constant abuse today so will have to order new (not bad considering it was a class C and 3 years of abuse).

So any of you got any tips? Especially the likes of API, ZEN, Lateral, EngineTuner........apologies to any i haven't named.

Thanks in advance

Baly :cool::thumb:

a big fookin hammer :)

have seen them drill bits that have the a screwdriver end and dig into the bolt and undo it, but not sure if it will be up to the job, by going by what you have do all ready.

maybe a impact driver on reverse with flat blade bit on it ? worth a shot

Lol a Big fooking hammer on a TY752 casing = guess what hehe :wonder:

Made me :lol: though.

Extractors are rubbish especially on high tensile. Have used them in the past and they have made the job worse and i wondered why i didn't carry on drilling the thing.

Nath - No head on it mate and bolt is jammed in there good and proper, i hope you know how close to the bottom starter bolt you are when your working down there, swinging a hammer is out of the question, i can just about fit a straight die grinder to give you an idea mate. so its a big no no. SMall die grinder that is.

A cold chisel to make a head and then impact drivverr on reverse good idea though.

Use a left hand cobalt drill bit.

Left hand drill bit, very low speed using cutting compound. if you can first using a small hammer and pin punch tap the end of the broken bolt just to loosen it a little, Thats what i would try.

How did it snap in the first place, Over tighten or to tight to unscrew ??

I think i was unfortunate tbh, i was tightening the bolt into the pin using washers against the 11mm Hex key hole to extract the pin.

And the damn bolt snapped in half. I was just looking at left hander Cobalts so will order some right now and see what;s what. But on SLOW? hmm using a die grinder at 10,000 RPM is out of the quetsion hehe, i will have to adjust the reg causing spin issues with die grinder. Maybe high speed left hand cobalts@?????

ANy more ideas guys?

Umm could try a bit of plus gas or similar, if in this situation i would use two maybe three bolts then try moving the bolt closest to the fork, worth a shot it's worked for me in the past.

Failing that saw the bastid out and tap n die the rest left behind, last resort measure but done carefully and you're laughing.

is it possible to get the box off without removing the clutch fork

nope box wont come off with the clutch fork still in.

drill on slow speed as the drill bit doesnt heat up then and ruin the cutting edge on the bit.

can you not undo the clutch cover bolts through the inspection cover/grommet similar to what they do on the auto`s drive plate?? just a thought.

You lost me on this one mate, could you re-explain for me??

(can't remember how much room is there but)

Can you remove the rubber cover over the clutch fork and get a slim set of long nosed pliers down onto the pin and edge it along?

Mine came out really easily though and I guess as you were trying to get it out like you were it was really tight?

There must be a way of helping it out through the inspection holes..

Why not? Sure it's easier to pull the fork out and pull the box off with the release bearing still on the clutch, but that isn't the only way. In these circumstances, why not just stick a long screwdriver down through the fork hatch and release the clip from the clutch cover?

Will need to turn the engine over to get the clip all the way round but once done the release bearing should disengage from the cover, allowing the gearbox to be removed with the fork still in situ.

I still don't quite understand why so much force was apparently needed to remove the pin. I've never seen one that doesn't simply pull out by hand.

Did seem strange to me too that it was hard to remove.

This sure had been a good thread hehe....well to answer all the above that pin was dry and rusted.

My technique......drilled 2mm hole using a stainless drill bit then a 4mm and a 5mm using plenty of cutting oil. Then tapped with a cordless using a 6mm with a 1mm pitch, managed to get a few threads on it and hay presto out it came using the tap and vice grips to pull, all the WD and Heat from my propane torch helped.

I know its not the prefered method for all as it can go terribly wrong but i have tapped a few in the past (not fork pins) so have some practice.

Well guys after 8 hours in total of drilling it's out. Thanks for all the info guys, i hope someone else will be able to refer to the thread when they're struck. Just a shame i didn't photo the lot could have been a good Techie.

Moral of the story, grease the buggers with some copper grease when you put them back in :)

Without a doubt Daz, it's a new project so i'm expecting plenty more problems yet.

:thumb: