Well I learned a few things about broken bolts today.
I soaked the bolt for the pass few days with penetrating oil, then today
I cut a slot in the end of the bolt with a zip cut on the grinder then
heated the bolt to a cherry red, let it cool until the red was gone then
I put more oil on, what for I don't know, because it went up in smoke
anyway but never the less I had to try it. I let the bolt cool off until
I could touch it, next thing to go wrong was the slot broke from the
force of screwdriver and vice grip combination that was the end of that
ideal.
Now for plan B, first I ground the bolt flat on the end and used a
center punch to mark the middle of the bolt then I used my drill and a
1/4" bit, drilled right through the bolt. Next I heated the inside of
the hole until what was left of the bolt turned molten hot, didn't take
long to do that, quickly I used a small punch and hammered it out the
other side. Next step was to cool down and retap the threads in the door
jamb nut, I may have to use a little loctite on the new bolt to keep it
tight.
The big lesson today was " have a backup plan " and don't twist the
heads off bolts.
Thanks to everyone who gave me the tips, they helped me get this broken
bolt out with out to much damage.
Ross 51 Chevy 3/4 LB 5W
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