A week or so ago, I broke off a bolt in my engine block and then broke
off an extractor inside it. First off, thanks for those who replied.
They were all good suggestions. The best was to get back down to my
friendly machine shop. (I know my limits.)
When I got the block back, the machinist told me the method:
Take your smallest drill bit, and drill out what's left of the screw
between the extractor and the engine block. The idea is to relieve the
metal the extractor is stuck in. The extractor is hardened metal, so
when the drill bit hits it, it will break. He said he went through
three bits. Since it was such a small bolt (1/4") he ended up losing
some threads, and so had to shoot a heli-coil back into the hole.
Wherein lies another tip. As familiar as we all are with red and blue
loc-tite, there's a green variety as well (actually, a number of green
varieties). This type is meant to be permanent. One use is to hold
sleeves into cylinders. He used some of this on the heli-coil, then
heat cured it. While this isn't magic, it's insurance against old
hamfist pulling out the heli-coil.
Hope this tidbit helps one of you in the future.
Matt Kulka
'74 B - rebeginning the un-dismantling
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