Snapped Bolts, Poor Mans Oxy?

[gazza2009au]

hey guys i have some snapped bolts some flush some have a little meat hanging out they SS bolts in a aluminium outboard block so seized with salt and corrosion

just wondering if i could use a DC TIG welder to heat the bolt to crack the bond in the thread instead of using an oxy for the job?

was thinking of heating the bolts if this works and cycling it a couple of times than using the youtube tricks by welding a washer and nut over the bolts and unscrewing

what do u think?

[DocBug]

I have seen people tig a head onto the bolt and use that to remove the stuck threads. Best of luck

[Karl Robbers]

It actually works better than heating with oxy. Just take care to place your arc accurately and not wash over onto the block and be patient, you often need to work the bolt in and out for a while before it comes properly loose..
Use some loctite never sieze when you reassemble the motor so you don't have the same problem next time.

[gazza2009au]

I have seen people tig a head onto the bolt and use that to remove the stuck threads. Best of luck

yeah i seen a good trick on youtube where the guy had a flush bolt snapped he than welded a washer over the snapped bolt than welded a nut on top of the washer and hey presto looked like it worked brilliantly

It actually works better than heating with oxy. Just take care to place your arc accurately and not wash over onto the block and be patient, you often need to work the bolt in and out for a while before it comes properly loose..
Use some loctite never sieze when you reassemble the motor so you don't have the same problem next time.

awesome thanks for the reply Karl, i already have the argon cylinder so going with a DC TIG is far cheaper than setting up a oxy and im often rebuilding outboard engines so this would come in handy a lot, i once had around 20 snapped bolts on a engine and was quoted $88 to drill out each single snapped bolt

just have one more question using the TIG welder does it make the bolt go cherry red or will i need some sort of thermometer to keep an eye on bolt temprature? also do i attempt to remove the broken bolt while its very hot or cold?

thanks

[Karl Robbers]

The best results I've had have been by building up a big enough pimple on the bolt/stud, letting it cool, sometimes spraying a bit of CRC or WD40 on while warm and then letting the bolt/stud cool before winding it out with vice grips. The theory being that the bolt/stud expands when heated inside the cool engine block and then cools again shrinking away from the corrosion that caused all the dramas in the first place.
Have a bit of a play and you will soon find what works best for you.

[gazza2009au]

i just tried welding the nuts on with my MIG, the first bolt came out a breeze i thought wow its really that easy!? than every try after was a failed attempt, i tried welding a nut onto around 6 snapped bolts 1 came free about 3 others twisted back and forth than snapped free the others just didnt budge just the weld snapped

do u really think a TIG welder would be a much better choice over todays MIG experience or do u think i really should learn to drill and heli coil? ive tried drilling once before and failed so im going to watch some youtube videos now to seek some ideas

[DocBug]

Just keep at it, worst case drill out the bolt and heli-coil it. What may also help is to get a can of freezit spray. After the bolt is welded, and cool, give it a good solid spray to try contract it a bit.
Can get the freezit spray from most electronic shops.

[gazza2009au]

Just keep at it, worst case drill out the bolt and heli-coil it. What may also help is to get a can of freezit spray. After the bolt is welded, and cool, give it a good solid spray to try contract it a bit.
Can get the freezit spray from most electronic shops.

yeah heli coil looks so easy in the youtube videos but its the pilot hole that i cant keep strait drilling into the stainless steel bolts as its tends to wonder

[Karl Robbers]

Generally I use welding, screw extractors and finally drilling and helicoiling in that order.
if it takes a couple of go's at welding to get it out, then so be it.
Tig is miles ahead of stick or mig for this type of work.

[DocBug]

Agreed Karl

[gazza2009au]

Generally I use welding, screw extractors and finally drilling and helicoiling in that order.
if it takes a couple of go's at welding to get it out, then so be it.
Tig is miles ahead of stick or mig for this type of work.

i noticed with the Mig the bolt was cherry red but within around 4-5mins the bolt was at room temprature and could be touched by finders

do u think using the TIG i could penetrate more heat and for as long as i like into the bolt and that is the key over the Mig and stick welding?

these are only 10mm bolts so around 6mm thread diameters? but such a pain in the ass to get that corrosion to crack

one down side to the mig i could see is i get one go at penetrating the heat and thats it because the nut is filled with weld i can see a TIG would be ideal as i can heat it as many times as i like with no effect but will it heat the bolt to cherry red?

ill see if i can find a cheapie TIG on ebay or gumtree to mess about with

thanks for the help guys

[Master Splinter]

A tungsten carbide burr in a die grinder would be the way to go (that's exactly why I brought myself a die grinder!). And a nickel based anti-seize, not copper for reinstalling.

[Karl Robbers]

i noticed with the Mig the bolt was cherry red but within around 4-5mins the bolt was at room temprature and could be touched by finders

do u think using the TIG i could penetrate more heat and for as long as i like into the bolt and that is the key over the Mig and stick welding?

these are only 10mm bolts so around 6mm thread diameters? but such a pain in the ass to get that corrosion to crack

one down side to the mig i could see is i get one go at penetrating the heat and thats it because the nut is filled with weld i can see a TIG would be ideal as i can heat it as many times as i like with no effect but will it heat the bolt to cherry red?

ill see if i can find a cheapie TIG on ebay or gumtree to mess about with

thanks for the help guys

I had forgotten that you no longer had a tig welder. I don't know if I would buy a TIG just to remove bolts, but if you have other uses then it may not be so bad.
Tig has the advantage over mig that you have control over heat input and fusion therefore you can get the bolt/stud hot and ready to weld without adding filler material and then add filler as required. It's more surgical you could say.
Outboards that see saltwater service are always a challenge. The tungsten carbide burr could work if you have a compressor to run a die grinder or an electric die grinder.

[gazza2009au]

yeah i probably wont have any use for the TIG welder as i have a Mig with spool gun, i have an old Hafco 15cfm compressor so i could use a die grinder but i have never used one before which burr bit would i use? i looked on ebay seems smallest size is 3mm and the heads look around 5mm the bolts i need removing ar around 6mm so its cutting it thin unless i still need to heli coil?

[gazza2009au]

thinking of going old school TIG for these bolts i have been looking on gumtree to make a cheap but effective TIG welder using a stick welder

the parts are easy to find in china to piece together a TIG torch but how would i attach the torch cable to one of these terminals

i was planning on drilling out and using a heli coil today but im a little worried ill screw it up so still want to go the TIG option and see if it works out first and use the heli coil as a last option