what to do with a stripped headbolt,

[efgiar]

hey guys im removing a head of a ed and one of the bolts has been stripped (was worn before we touched it and we made it worse) we have tried a rattle gun but my little air compressor couldnt keep up and doesnt have enough pressure. is it possible to weld a nut or somthing to the top of the bolt?

[gregaust]

You are using a single hex socket? If not it might work .It will be much better than double hex.

[efgiar]

yeah im using a impact socket, didnt have a single problem with the rest >.< any one know if you can weld to it?

[Allen]

File or grind all the sides down to a smaller hex size, and use a single hex socket with a long breaker bar.

Usually I grind a screwdriver slot into the hex, but I doubt you'll crack a headbolt with a screwdriver :P

[efgiar]

lol yeah could work, was thinking of somthing a little easier. valve spring gets in the way a bit. i know this may sound stupid to some, but could i cut it off with a grinder, the block will be tossed anyway but once its cut it should be free on the bottom anyway?

[Allen]

if thats the case just drill the thing out...
if you do get the hex head off, IIRC the thread on the head bolt doesn't go into the head, so once the hex head is off, you should be able to get the cly head off.

[efgiar]

yeah sounds like a good idea to me, we will soon find out if it is hardend or not :P

[efgiar]

well ive started drilling, slowly as my good drill has run out of brushes. but its working so far, the battery is charging

[efgiar]

whell i got it, very minimal damage to the actual head but it just on the inside of the through hole for the headbolt so it wont do anything :P thanks guys

[gthofan]

good work josh, i wouldnt have been keen on the welding idea, with the amount of heat generated

[efgiar]

nah the head would have taken the heat, just wasnt sure if the headbolts were hardend, because if they are its very very difficult to weld to.

[Nostalgia]

Yeah grind a slot into it and use a screwdriver. Ive done it myself 3 times. All the best 2 ya.

[efgiar]

its a bit hard to crack a headbolt with a scew driver. id say the screwdriver would brake long before it would crack the headbolt

[Nostalgia]

If the slot is deep enough and you using quality brand screwdriver you should have success.

[efgiar]

i still wouldnt trust it, i have a decent screw driver set, wasnt expensive but wasnt a cheap one and i wouldnt bother trying lol

[fmc351]

Impact driver???

[nothin suss]

Originally Posted by efgiar

any one know if you can weld to it?

I know you have done the job already but just thought i would share welding is dangerous (especially if its a gas car)

Fella at work was doing the same thing and kaboom.... :
I guess the best way is to turn off the tank and let the manifold and head all air out for a while (or blow out with compressed air perhaps)

[Sundeep]

If you're a hack like me and the head and motor isn't yours, I suggest going ape with a grinder. I got the head off, I wouldn't say it was in mint condition though.

Sundeep

[efgiar]

yeah impact driver would struggle, we had a rattle gun on it with a impact socket and still no go

[fmc351]

I tried rattle gun on a car we stripped, the bolt heads were all stuffed, all but 3 IIRC. Couldnt use a 6 sided socket as the bolthead shape was 12 sided, sort of like a torque or some such. Ended up just tossing the whole donk, the only way to get it off was to stuff it.

I assume the last person to touch the head didnt replace the headbolts. If it was only one or two, i would have tried slotting the bolt heads and an impact driver, they have different forces to a rattle gun. Im not sure how tight the bolts are, but its clear they are tight enough. Ive never had that drama pulling a head, except an Alfa V6 with headstuds.