Broken Studs.....

[Neverdone]

Well so I am still tinkering with my prject Three wheeler that I picked up last fall. Yesterday I decided that I was tired of seeing the junky looking exhaust and figured that a quick trip into the blast cabinet and some fresh paint might really clean that up a bit and help to give it the fresher look that I am trying to achieve.

That being said I went to work to pull the exhaust. Of course I had been soaking this days in advance because I knew that I was going to do this eventually so anytime I saw the thing I sprayed the nuts with a little PB (much like some of the other parts I plan on taking apart). Of course though I put a wrench on the nut and it snapped the stud right off just as I figured it would. The second one didn't give me a chance to snap it off it just rounded off with effortless ease. So it got the saw treatment since I now have to get the other stud out anyway.

So my thought is to weld a nut to the still protruding studs and try and turn them out before I cut them off and drill them out. Figure the heat from welding might give me a little advantage to getting them out. Any one else have a thought on this??

 

[Dirtyrat]

I would have tried heating the casting first with the torch, they perhaps would have come out...
but yea I have seen people weld to the ends of studs and get them out that way.

 

[Willowbilly3]

Other people claim that works but I have had zero percent success rate with my attempts. If you have some stud protruding, I would make a pilot that fits over the stud but has a smaller hole to guide the drill bit and keep it centered. After you have it drilled on out, the threads will be shot anyway so just go a tad bigger to the next American size stud like 5/16. I did that on head studs of my Suzuki 500 ice racer and never had another problem.
I keep old broken taps to grind into bottoming taps for those blind holes.

 

[Sniper]

I've had a fairly good success rate by welding a washer to the stud first, and then a nut to the washer so you have something to wrench on. The heat breaks the rust bond and if you go at it while it's still hot with small swings of the wrench, (more like rocking it back and forth) you will likely feel it start to give. Swing the wrench progressively farther with each stroke until it rotates. Try to do it in one pull and they shear off just about every time, have to tease it out of there a little at a time until it agrees to come out. If you can get a Vise Grip on the nut, you can feel what is happening better than with a wrench. Wrench is a bit sloppy, where the Vise Grip is clamped on solid and offers a better feedback on what's happening. Best of luck.

 

[endicott_jb]

2 words, candle wax. Heat the stud up with a torch then while it's hot, melt a candle into the threads. The candle wax acts like a lubricant and will allow the stud to come out almost effortlessly. Another thing you can try is using a pipe wrench to remove the stud.

 

[donsrods]

I can't tell you how many broken studs I have gotten out by welding a nut to the left over stud. I use one that is one size bigger, and position it so the stud is just slightly below the top of the nut. Then I fill the crater with hot weld and let it cool. The stud usually comes out like butter. The combination of the heat and having a good nut to turn does the trick.

Don

 

[Neverdone]

Well the candle wax is a new one on me. I have honestly never heard of that. But that is one of the biggest points to a forum! Everyone sharing experiences!

I have been soaking the studs a couple times a day for the last few days now with some stuff called deep creep made by seafoam. Comes pretty highly recomended by a few of my buddies. Also using that because it is supposed to not dissipate with heat. So probably tonight or tomorrow I will be trying to get them out.

Fingers Crossed.

 

[donsrods]

Old time craftsmen got out broken studs and frozen bolts by soaking them repeatedly and having patience. They would go out and soak them, then strike them with a hammer to set up a shock wave through the fastener, then go away for a day or so. Then they would keep doing that until the part would finally break free.

I don't have that kind of patience, so I just heat em up with the torch.

Don

 

[Willowbilly3]

Don, I've used that method too and it takes patience but usually works. Studs that are frozen into aluminum are tougher than bolts rusted into ferrous metal.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Don, I've used that method too and it takes patience but usually works. Studs that are frozen into aluminum are tougher than bolts rusted into ferrous metal.

Nice part about aluminum however is that it expands much faster than steel when heated up...

 

[Neverdone]

hopefully in a couple days I will be trying to get them babies out! In the mean time, still soakin...

 

[kenny c]

welding a nut on works. a friend of mine turn me on to this trick. remember to not use brakeclean to clean the oils off before welding. the fumes it creates when heated and mixed with shielding gasses will kill you. if the nut welded on breaks off just try again, some times it takes multiple tries. good luck.

 

[Willowbilly3]

I like the idea of welding a washer on first. My problem was always thet the nut filled up with weld before it penetrated the stud good and it just wouldn't hold.

 

[shakey56]

What works for me.

Neverdone,

All good advice. I use my impact to take em out after I weld the nut on it. Keep reversing it, back and forth. Sometimes it works, sometimes the wrench works. Just thought I'd mention it.

Lynn

 

[Neverdone]

I am way to chicken to put an impact on an already broken stud.... especially when it is only an 8mm stud. I will weld the nut on and give that a shot. If I think I have enough room maybe a washer too.

 

[Torch]

"Broken Studs" sounds like one of them movies I've refused to go see lol

I found I have better luck with long remnants then when they break off almost flush
So when i get a bolt that I feel is starting to twist...
It tells me this thing isn't coming out
And it's going to break
So I torch the head off the bolt and get the manifold off first
then I get it red hot
It's not the expansion of the block I'm getting to
It's the breaking down of the rust bonding the bolt to the block
I let it cool some then I shock it and use a cute little small pipe wrench in it sometimes while impacting it with a hammer
The pipe wrench allows me to grip into it and turn it without trying to bend it off.
The vice grips slip off easier and seem to me to be harder to keep that stub from bending.

If I drill out a hole very carefully all the way through the bolt I have been able to get just inside the threads enough to work some of the bolt out with a pick and a hammer then use a tap on the existing threads to nibble away at whats left of the bolt.

Once I broke off a tap in the block... I was able to get it out with the torch
I heated it to incandecence without heating the cast iron and when I hit it with the oxygen it exploded into a shower of sparks and the threads remained undamaged

 

[Neverdone]

Welp, heating the jug, soaking for over a week...... welded a nut to the stud and it didn't even give me a chance. Snapped right off, both of them........ guess I am going to be drilling and tapping. I am pretty good with a drill and tap, but really didn't want to have to do that.....

 

[RPM]

Welp, heating the jug, soaking for over a week...... welded a nut to the stud and it didn't even give me a chance. Snapped right off, both of them........ guess I am going to be drilling and tapping. I am pretty good with a drill and tap, but really didn't want to have to do that.....

That has always been my experience with broken studs. Just drill them out and chase the threads. And don't even think about an easy-out!

 

[Neverdone]

That has always been my experience with broken studs. Just drill them out and chase the threads. And don't even think about an easy-out!

Easy-Outs and me don't get along. Already started drilling, need to go one more step to the tap size then tap it and put in the new ones. Hopefully I will have this thing back on its wheels and running again by the end of the night!!