Broken Shock bolt help..

Type 3 front top shot bolt has been broken by previous owner inside the hole... whats the best way to get this out?

Have you got access to easy-outs? Shouldn't be hard to move unless it's rusted in. Drill to suit easy-out at low speed with sharp drill as the bolt is high tensile steel. Centre punch as near to centre as you can before drilling.

What area are you in? Helps to add this to your profile so others close by can help you if you haven't got some tools.

DH

Only draw back is when you break the easy out off, i drilled the bolts right through on the front end of my early beetle and put a thin nut behind the shock tower, no more stepped bolts to break off and just a standard grade 8.8 bolt that is easy to replace, when you reassemble it use neverseize and it won't happen again.

vwo60 wrote:Only draw back is when you break the easy out off, i drilled the bolts right through on the front end of my early beetle and put a thin nut behind the shock tower, no more stepped bolts to break off and just a standard grade 8.8 bolt that is easy to replace, when you reassemble it use neverseize and it won't happen again.

Easy-out is one tool and if you feel that the load you are applying will result in it breaking then don't keep forcing it. Many people either drill too small which can break the point off and on the other extreme, they drill too large which allows the easy-out to expand the broken bit which jams it harder against the hole wall. There are other types on the market as well which are considdered better. If you are careful with centring the drill you can drill the core out and then pick the thread out or just run a tap back through to push it out. That way all is still standard.

DH

jigga wrote:Type 3 front top shot bolt has been broken by previous owner inside the hole... whats the best way to get this out?

where are You located??????

I would just drill the hole out...
if You can drill it slightly smaller than the bolt...
You maybe able to pick the rest of it out...

otherwise just use a bolt...

You will need a few drills as the bolt is high tensile....

Dallas,
I only had one encounter with an easy out...
I used the smallest.... snapped off..
could never drill thru the easy out...
even with expensive bits..

Now I find its best to drill a larger size...
but You still need to know what You are doing... lol

LEE

I have used easy outs many times and there success rate is not that good, i find that they just spread the broken bolt in the hole making it harder to get it out, Lee is correct, just drill the broken bolt out to it's root diameter and pick the thread out, the other problem that i see is that no one is using a cutting compound on the drill bit, rocol cutting compound is the best that i have used and have drill harder material's than a grade 8.8 bolt with success without killing the drill bit.

68AutoBug wrote:

jigga wrote:Type 3 front top shot bolt has been broken by previous owner inside the hole... whats the best way to get this out?

where are You located??????

I would just drill the hole out...
if You can drill it slightly smaller than the bolt...
You maybe able to pick the rest of it out...

otherwise just use a bolt...

You will need a few drills as the bolt is high tensile....

Dallas,
I only had one encounter with an easy out...
I used the smallest.... snapped off..
could never drill thru the easy out...
even with expensive bits..

Now I find its best to drill a larger size...
but You still need to know what You are doing... lol

LEE

Can be a problem if they snap off Lee, especially if they are HSS as it can't be annealed under normal circumstances. Same goes for taps. Ham fisted operators are better off with carbon steel taps as they can be heated to anneal and then drill them out if broken off in a hole......... but not in aluminium!

I diidn't mention the cutting oil as I take it for granted that everyone knows you should use some sort of cutting lubricant when drilling, tapping etc except on cast iron.

The main problem with people wrecking good drills when drilling tough steel is that they run the drill too fast. Many portable drills run too fast unless they have variable speed on them. The next problem is that with hand drilling, constant load can't be applied which allows the drill to rub which not only dulls the cutting edge but forms a work hardened skin on the high tensile material, in this case, the broken bolt. Split point drill bits are a better choice when drilling these metals as there is less force needed to keep the drill cutting. Also get away from the standard point angle. Increasing the included angle of the point shortens the lip length which in turn gives less load on the drill........... but we all know this stuff as well!! 😂

Rocol........ great stuff but crapp on your tools and machines! The fumes from the cutting action is rather acidic and rusts things overnight. The Rocol sales engineers call it "staining" but I've had more than one of them quietly agree that its RUST!

The old Trefolex is a good tapping lubricant but we aren't supposed to use it on machine tools....too many nasties in it. The new one which looks like castor oil can be used for machining but acts like Rocol with the rusting. Just make sure you wipe drills etc with an oily rag after using it.

DH