Stuck bolt in rear casting.

[Brock]

Hi All,

I found another question. I have a stuck lower mounting bolt in a rear casting. It has resisted some serious hammer blows. I'm now doing the penetrating oil thing... yada yada... After that, heat -- and after that, lotsa heat.

Has anyone had success in this department, or is likely to be terminal for the patient?

It should be able to handle the heat, right?

I have the ability to zip-cut it and drill the bolt out with my mill.... but that setup is a serious hassle... and it might just be as difficult to remove the final bit without ruining the bore... Smashing it through (as option #1) might just to that also.

Thanks

[h20hamelan]

by turning the short head of the bolt, you will free it. then it will move with more oil
heating the alloy is touchy torch work. I bet you get it free with 6-point socket, just make sure you have good contact

[Brock]

by turning the short head of the bolt, you will free it. then it will move with more oil
heating the alloy is touchy torch work. I bet you get it free with 6-point socket, just make sure you have good contact

Thanks.

... Rounded off real good.

Maybe I'll weld a lever to the bolt head....

[h20hamelan]

iirc, the bolts are a bit special. not just because the head is short. the neck or shank is also longer. So you may need to call Lordco and get them to look at Pacific Fastener, Pabco or Indu-fas.

[h20hamelan]

or make the head of the existing the next size down

[mbell]

I think you can use a long bolt and nut in the other hole to press the stuck one out. Just use some washers under the nut to spread the load against the housing, tighten the bolt to push against the stuck one.

[Brock]

or make the head of the existing the next size down

I guess that's why the S1's bolts have a bevel ground in just the right spot.

(The stuck bolt is in the spare chassis).

[rgh0]

I would just keep doing what your doing and should come free eventually.

Is it stuck in the casting or in the bushing ?

Heat with a hot air gun is more controllable than with a flame on an alloy casting

A freeze spray on the bolt after heating the surrounds can also help

In the end you can cut off the bolt head, cut out the suspension bush from the A frame and drill or press out the remaining bolt shank in the casting.

Its always wise to use anti sieze on bolts exposed to corrossion like these

cheers
Rohan

[Brock]

Luigi Galvani wins. No way it's coming out without a nightmare setup on the mill. Maybe a press, but I think that will damage the casting.

I welded a 3/4 nut to the bolt. It takes about 100 ft/lbs to move it -- and it just spins and gets no easier at all. Hitting any harder with a hammer risks damaging the A-arm. It was so hot outside that I didn't even need the welder, so that was nice.

I will never get around to it. It will go in the metal bin some day.

Wa-Waa sad trombone.

[2cams70]

If you’ve got it to move you have already won half the battle. The trick in these situations is not to apply either torque or axial force but to apply both torque and axial force at the same time. I suggest you now weld a long spanner to that nut. After soaking everything in a releasing agent and letting it sit for a while rotate the nut backwards and forwards. Do not rotate it just in one direction. Whilst doing this keep spraying it with releasing agent. As it slowly starts to become more free start putting some axial force on the bolt by pulling the spanner towards you. Keep things rotating backwards and forwards as you do so. It may help to tap the bolt with a hammer a little bit but not too much otherwise as well as the risk of peening over the end of the bolt you will risk the corrosion deposits forming a wedge between the parts and things seizing up again. Be patient and slowly things will become more and more free as you wriggle the bolt out of the hole. Make sure you haven’t already peened over the end of the bolt by bashing it with a hammer. This is a big no no. If you have you will need to carefully file it round again so that it will pass through the arm otherwise it will just jam. I see people on you tube using big steel heavy hammers and it makes me cringe. Go and buy yourself a quality “Thor” copper faced hammer. Leather on one side copper on the other. They are great. It will help to apply some heat to the aluminium only (aluminium expands at roughly 3 times the rate of steel under the action of heat). Not too much though otherwise you risk permanently softening it. If applying heat use an IR thermometer and try to keep the temperature of the aluminium around 100 - 110 degrees C maximum.

[512BB]

From what the op now describes, ie. that the bolt is moving and therefore not seized in the housing, it is clear that the bolt is stuck on the bush inner sleeve, which has parted company from the rest of the bush. I shall be very surprised if you are now able to remove the bolt, especially in situ.

The most expensive part in what the op shows is the ali housing, which is quite fragile in many respects. I would remove the upright and A frame to the bench, cut through the bolt between the bush and the housing, and proceeded from there. No chance then of damaging the housing, and the bush and bolt can be removed quite simply.

Leslie

[2cams70]

Yes if the bush in the a frame on the opposite side to the nut you have welded on is a metallastic type and the inner sleeve has rusted onto the bolt you will need to cut the bolt between the sleeve and housing with a thin cutting disc attached to an angle grinder before trying to wriggle out the bolt using the method described earlier. Make sure you file smooth any burrs on the end of the bolt where it’s been cut with the grinder

[Andy8421]

I am confused by the above two comments.

The bolt comes out through the bush. If the inner sleeve of the bush has rusted onto the bolt, and the bolt is free (ish) to turn, then the rubber has become detached from the sleeve and the bolt can be withdrawn by the 'wiggle and pull' technique - the sleeve will pull out of the bush along with the bolt.

No cutting required.

[Brock]

Thank-you guys.

I am surprised that it is SO stuck. It is definitely stuck in the alu housing as I burned all the rubber in the bush away with the welder. I'm worried about driving it out and enlarging the bore in the casting in the process; corrosion would have enlarged the diameter of bolt -- that's why I thought of milling it out.

The assembly is off the chassis... I'll make a silicone dam to hold penetrating oil like a cup... and see if it gets any easier to spin. You would think that spinning it would free it up some! But no, it's still very hard to turn. That's actually a good sign that the bolt is not abrading the alu bore (I think).

I have my father's 70 year old Thor hammer -- which I was using in fact.... And I was beating on the stuck bolt with its nut threaded on. I very much appreciate the advice though.

Check this thing out... It was only ever used on wheel knock-offs (as they're called here). He was a wheelwright back in day.

[512BB]

'The bolt comes out through the bush. If the inner sleeve of the bush has rusted onto the bolt, and the bolt is free (ish) to turn, then the rubber has become detached from the sleeve and the bolt can be withdrawn by the 'wiggle and pull' technique - the sleeve will pull out of the bush along with the bolt.'

I have been looking for some bushes that I had laying around that had failed, but cannot now find them, to show you what failed bushes look like. They looked like new, you could not tell that they had failed just by looking at them, which is why I have probably thrown them away, to save mixing them up with good bushes and fitting them.

Those bushes had covered 15 miles, to an MOT station and back, but had failed due to a problem with the chassis. Now here is the rub, even though the inner sleeve was not bonded to the outside sleeve any longer, you still could not separate the two. That is how tight the inner sleeve is in a bush, even after it has failed.

Re Brock's situation, its difficult to get a handle on what is going on from 8000 miles away and not being able to lay eyes and hands on the actual job, but I am sure he will get there.

Leslie