I'm in a pickle

[Truckin4life]

You know, as I'm thinking about this, I'm remembering something my grandfather taught me. (He was a machinist and shop foreman for a world-leading machine-tool builder.)

He wouldn't use EZ-outs on anything as small as a t-stat housing bolt, ever. Left handed drill-bits when he had the right size, but otherwise right handed ones, just start small and drill the entire bolt out until you hit the minor diameter of the bolt, then needlenose to break/collapse out the "shell" of threads that was left.

If your hands are that steady, so steady you can get that close but not mess up the threads, then i owe you a beer.
Easily done with a drill press, but with a corded hand drill?
Could be done, but you would be the next billy bad arse.

 

[john112deere]

Honestly, I don't have the balls to try it.

He could do it, though, and I have a buddy who can. Easier to call in a favor than screw it up myself...

EDIT: you don't actually have to be quite as close as you might think...even if you're off-center by 1/64 or so, when you get to the minor diameter in one spot, that's usually close enough.

 

[CowboyBilly9Mile]

............Could be done, but you would be the next billy bad arse.

Well thanks for the compliment . I did drill out a busted bolt on a SBC I had long ago but it was not exactly easy to do it and it was a last ditch effort. Because of the risk of not centering the drill, as well as not maintaining the centerline of the stuck bolt when drilling (ie, thread damage further into the repair attempt), I purposely left this fix out. Yeah, I trimmed the lower threads a bit when I did it but it wasn't a problem. It was just a burly 3/8" bolt holding a t-stat housing onto an Edelbrock and there were like an inch of threads to burn.

*If you try this brace for the possibility of ruining a pair of needle nose pliers on your grinder as well as having a way to dig out the remaining threads from that busted bolt way down deep. Or be daring and go in there with a bottoming tap if needed, provided your hole is correctly located (the hardest part).

 

[LEB Ben]

Alright thanks guys...I think I may have found a shop about a 1/2 mile away that I forgot all about. They're closed today, so I have to talk to them tomorrow to see if they can help me out. This way I don't have to go buy anything, and it may end being cheaper this way...but I'll have to get that quoted.


That said, if they can do it...they are a half mile away, and I don't wanna HAVE to pay for a tow service, but I will if necessary. Do you think if I can bolt down the tstat housing with the one remaining bolt I can make it to the shop?

 

[CowboyBilly9Mile]

Uh uh, me thinks so.

 

[Truckin4life]

Yea you should be able to...
Just leave the thermostat out... Until you get down there.

 

[john112deere]

Yeah, you should make it.

In the PSD (which has three bolts for the t-stat, not two) we were able to drive about 4 miles to a shop with one broken bolt. Ran it without the t-stat, and it may have leaked a little, but no big deal. You should be fine for 1/2 a mile.

 

[LEB Ben]

Alright fellas...thanks for the help...I'll walk on over there tomorrow and see if they're willing to do it.

So if they are willing to do it...

Leave the tstat out, bolt up the housing as best I can.

Let antifreeze spew everywhere and head over there

Sound good to you guys?

 

[Truckin4life]

slap some duck tape on it too...

With out the t-stat, it shouldn't have much pressure....

 

[LEB Ben]

So then it would also help to crack the radiator cap to the first notch too then right.

 

[Truckin4life]

Dont think it would hurt....

 

[Alvin in AZ]

...you don't actually have to be quite as close as you might think...even if
you're off-center by 1/64 or so, when you get to the minor diameter in one
spot, that's usually close enough.

Yep.

I have to agree with all the nay-sayers that say they "can't".
But the results can depend on the situation too.

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/SAK3.jpg

See those rings at the bottom?
Those came off the 5/64" drill bit after drilling out a peened pin.
The pin just above it? ...didn't do so good on it. LOL
See where I stopped and scanned a picture of the pin still in place?
Center punched it then steered the drill until it was centered "good enough".

That's a situation where the lighting was good with +2.75 readers on and a
-like new- drill bit.

The trick is to -steer- the drill bit down the center of the pin.
You can do it, if the situation is right, Ben's (in this thread) may not be one
of those! But the idea that you "can't" being accepted up front is not the
best way to see it, before you even start, IMO.

--------------
You can steer a clunky old Ford between two semis on the freeway at 80
miles and hour you can steer a drill bit down the middle of a 3/8" bolt.
--------------

Alvin in AZ
ps- SAK = Swiss Army Knife in knife knut lingo
pps- a guy in Europe wanted to know how to take a SAK apart,
ppps- so I got the only SAK I had and went at it... LOL

 

[mtflat]

Yep.


--------------
You can steer a clunky old Ford between two semis on the freeway at 80
miles and hour you can steer a drill bit down the middle of a 3/8" bolt. --------------

Alvin in AZ
ps- SAK = Swiss Army Knife in knife knut lingo
pps- a guy in Europe wanted to know how to take a SAK apart,
ppps- so I got the only SAK I had and went at it... LOL

Now there's a quote! I agree, I always drill mine out - last thing I want is a broken EZ OUT.