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Rusty bolt woe fr€$h&m1nt¥
@freshandminty
Club Retro Rides Member 99
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Jun 19, 2016 11:15:31 GMT
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I'm having one of those weekends where I really hate cars and just wish they were a piece of metal that get you from a to b.  I discovered yesterday that one of my suspension bolts was rusty, seized and rounded. I cut a slot in it with the angle grinder to use a flat blade bit but that just slipped too. I bought halfords version of plusgas but that hasn't helped either. Last night I discovered turbo sockets and read rave reviews, picked up a set from screwfix this morning and they're just twisting off when any pressure is applied too. Other suggestions I've read include welding, which I can't do and have no tools to do either, and applying heat. I've not tried heat yet but not sure if it will help if the head is already fubar. any other diy type suggestions before I give up on cars and ultimately life in general?? Cheers Phil Oh and how it looks now ...  |
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Porsche
West Midlands
Kev from B'ham.
Posts: 4,725 
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Jun 19, 2016 11:28:13 GMT
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Soak it in Plusgas, then go to the shops and buy yourself one of these...  or simular. Heat the bolt head for a minute then turn it with some mole grips...  |
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Jun 19, 2016 11:52:34 GMT
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As above but I got a MAP gas burner.
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Jun 19, 2016 12:26:40 GMT
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fr€$h&m1nt¥ get your grinder and grind two oposing flat edges so you can get a good seet with the mole grips, Take the turbo sockets back and get a refund they arent worth thier weight in scrap.. don't try and loosen straight away, Rock it back and forth with gradualy increasing amounts of force, if you feel it start to move be patient and keep rocking it back and forth tighten loosen tighten loosen... The threads will slowly grind the curse word thats holding the bolt tight to a fine dust then you can get some lube in there to free the bolt and wash out all the curse word,
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Last Edit: Jun 19, 2016 16:56:30 GMT by usedabused
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Jun 19, 2016 12:32:10 GMT
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To be honest if that bolt just has a nut on the end I'd cut the head off and chase it out with a scrap bolt..
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Rusty bolt woe fr€$h&m1nt¥
@freshandminty
Club Retro Rides Member 99
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Jun 19, 2016 15:14:41 GMT
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Thanks for the advice all. I'll buy a torch tomorrow evening and let you know how it goes.
I can't get in with a grinder due the recess the bolt head is in but I'll try with my dremel.
Unfortunately it's a 2" bolt that threads directly into the C clamp bracket that wraps around the strut so chasing / drilling etc would be a real problem and not something I would attempt. And spares are hardly handy either!
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Jun 19, 2016 15:36:35 GMT
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I picked up a cheapy no gas MIG second hand for occasions such as this.
Find a suitable nut and weld the curse word onto the rounded bolt. The heat from the welding helps to free it off too. I can't weld for toffee but 10 mins of practise on some scrap nuts and bolts will give you something workable.
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taurus
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,084
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Jun 19, 2016 15:39:48 GMT
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All of the above plus something I have found works for me.
Plusgas is usually brilliant, but running 45 year old Vauxhalls which had a habit of rusting from new I've had the occasional time even Plusgas fails. I learnt a trick which is to soak in Plausgas then add a squirt of WD40 (or even just Wilkos cheap alternative). The point is that the WD40 is a dispersant so it drives the Plusgas into the joint. I've had several times that Plusgas hasn't worked but adding the squirt of WD40 has just made all the difference.
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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Rusty bolt woe slater
@slater
Club Retro Rides Member 78
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Heat is always the key to these situations. Obviously heat the thread end not the head end tho.
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alx
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 367
Club RR Member Number: 21
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Rusty bolt woe alx
@alx
Club Retro Rides Member 21
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All of the above, especially heat but also give the bolt a good smack with something heavy too. I've found this can help free off any rusted threads and help with the initial small movements.
I have had the same issues but with 20 year old J bolts that I'm sure are made from cheese, if you're not careful you just end up turning the bolt head off and then you have to drill.
Good luck.
AL.
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It's well worth using proper plus-gas imo and not something similar.
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93fxdl
Posted a lot
Enter your message here...
Posts: 2,019
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Jun 20, 2016 15:29:11 GMT
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Emergency welding can be done on the cheap So a bit of backyard tech Will let you weld a nut onto the head, and also fire some heat into it Ttfn Glenn Ps you can also turn your cars alternator into a welder. yachtwork.com/report-welder.htm |
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Rusty bolt woe fr€$h&m1nt¥
@freshandminty
Club Retro Rides Member 99
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Jun 20, 2016 18:53:54 GMT
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Emergency welding can be done on the cheap So a bit of backyard tech Will let you weld a nut onto the head, and also fire some heat into it Ttfn Glenn Ps you can also turn your cars alternator into a welder. yachtwork.com/report-welder.htmHaha with my clumsiness / ineptitude i would end up setting fire to the truck, the adjacent hedge and mine and my neighbour's house if I tried either of those  |
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BT
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,772
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Jun 26, 2016 18:07:29 GMT
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sal
Part of things
Mk2 Cavalier CD
Posts: 240
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Jun 26, 2016 18:53:31 GMT
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Another recommendation for the irwin bolt grips from me too. Great tool and get you out of a lot of tight spots. Would probably sort out the op's issue as access looks ok.
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Rusty bolt woe fr€$h&m1nt¥
@freshandminty
Club Retro Rides Member 99
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I didn't buy those because there's not a 12mm (everything else) in the set and typically it's a 12mm headed bolt that's stuck!! I bought (and failed with) the Erbauer set also from screwfix. |
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sal
Part of things
Mk2 Cavalier CD
Posts: 240
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Hammer the 11mm one on and it should give a good fit. There's also another set of 5 sockets to go with these to give you ten sockets in the set.
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Last Edit: Jun 27, 2016 8:58:06 GMT by sal
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BT
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,772
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Jun 27, 2016 15:48:09 GMT
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I've just measured mine and I think you'd get an 11mm over a damaged 12mm bolt head. Also looking at the 13mm it tapers in deeper into the socket so that would probably do it as well.
If you're local to us, pop round and borrow them.
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Rusty bolt woe fr€$h&m1nt¥
@freshandminty
Club Retro Rides Member 99
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Jun 28, 2016 12:03:17 GMT
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I've just measured mine and I think you'd get an 11mm over a damaged 12mm bolt head. Also looking at the 13mm it tapers in deeper into the socket so that would probably do it as well. If you're local to us, pop round and borrow them. Cheers, appreciate the offer but I'm up in staffs so bit far to travel I'm going to try the hearing method next but want to get the other strut fitted first before I try again. |
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All the above re: heat and shocking it with a hammer etc. it is also worth having some hex sockets not just the multipoint type as don't tend to strip the points off the nut as much.
Also, if you have a fubar nut or bolt head, it's often worth having some imperial sockets and spanners too as well as your metric stuff.
Say you have a 13mm nut and it's rusty and slips in the 13mm, try a 1/2 inch instead as it is 12.5mm it will be a tight fit on a 13mm nut.
If that still slips (and the hex sockets arent helping either) then you can go down to 12mm, but that will usually need the sides grinding down a bit and a hex (not multipoint) socket hammered on.
The main thing is to try not to destroy the head before running out of alternatives.
The general rule is: Soak, heat, shock, and make sure your sockets are a tight fit.
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Last Edit: Jul 2, 2016 19:21:09 GMT by sausage
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