rocker arm bolt broke off in ls1 head

[ilovefirstgens]

Well a while back when swapping my vavlvesprings i had a bolt break off in one of the rocker arm holes, i just went to fix it today with a craftsman broken bolt removal dealey....



well long story short it broke so now i have a grade 8 bolt broken in an alum head with a hardended steel center and lots of dull drill bits.....

anyone have any suggestions aside from getting new heads?

[derekf]

Take it to a machine shop. I don't remember the name of the technology, but there's a process they use that involves an arc burning away the broken bolt.

[harshman]

is the bolt head flush or lower?

[ilovefirstgens]

lower....

and for the price of a machine shop doin anything i could probably just find another stock head...

[aany001]

I have had awesome luck with broken ex manifold bolts snapped flush or lower in the hole.what I do is grab a 3/8 nut and centre it over the bolt hole.you will need a mig welder for this.hold the nut with vise grips and fill the centre of the nut with weld.the heat will help loosen the broken bolt and hopefully the extracter.now with the nut welded to the broken pieces carefully loosen the nut and with some luck the extractor should come out.then try the same procedure with the bolt below the extractor.this works every time with 4.6l mustangs with broken exhaust manifold bolts.I have never tried welding to an extractor but I dont see why it would not weld to it.its worth a try.I hope this helps you out.
Steve

[aany001]

I hope that all made sense to you.also this will only work on aluminum heads.

[ilovefirstgens]

**** i need a mig, i think the probablilty of melting the intake are enough to make me do something else....

i think i might just be getting some darts early....

[harshman]

A grade 8 bolt will loose its hardness with heat – if needed. Home Depot sells easy outs that should take these little buggers out. A center punch will help out also in the drilling. Patients and lots of sharp bits will do it. Go slowly with the drill until it bites. Also a Dremal tool may come in handy in smoothing out the surface prior to drilling and a magnet will help with the metal shavings. I have had to drill all the way though the bolt on mine (water neck) before it loosened up.

caution with the whole mig thing. aluminum threads melting here will cost you the head. where as the manifold bolts can always upsize.

[Jim Nilsen]

I 2nd the vote for just center punching the bolt and start with a small drill to get it started and then go to a larger one until you get to at least a 1/4" easy out size. You might want to go to 5/16 but it will come out once you get to that size. The heat from drilling and the vibration will help it come out. Also spray some P.B. Blaster on it to loosen it up for a couple of days. The die grinder trick to get a flat surface to start is a good idea if you have to make it easy to start drilling.

I have actually removed several bolts from aluminum that were soaked with penetrating fluid for a couple of days and just used a punch and a hammer and tapped it on the edge the direction you want to turn it out ,it really can work if you try.

Don't give up too soon and use patience. You can always get another head if you ruin it and it sounds like you are looking at it as if it is ruined already.

The process of having it EDM removed may work and might not be too expensive if you find the right shop. The operator of the EDM will know if he can get it out, that is their job.

Jim Nilsen

[ilovefirstgens]

well right now the problem is that the tip of the bolt out thing is completely stuck in there and its what is dulling the bits ive ben using, its soaking in pennetrating lube and ill give it another shot tomm....

long hard day with other stuff too...

[Jim Nilsen]

Try getting a couple of cobalt bits, they work much better and won't dull as quickly. They cost more but are worth it and you will be able to use them for other things for a long while.

Jim Nilsen

[EFI69Cam]

Try getting a couple of cobalt bits, they work much better and won't dull as quickly. They cost more but are worth it and you will be able to use them for other things for a long while.

Jim Nilsen

Also get a reverse drill bit.

Often times the heat of drilling, the stress relief from the hole and the direction of the bit will back a broken bolt out before you finish drilling.

I've seen it happen.

Also the welding a nut to it does not always work, the original bolt broke and I don't care how good a welder you are, your weld will not be as strong as the bolt was.

[ilovefirstgens]

skrew it after over $100 in drill outs and drill bits im just replacing the head.... thanks though