Difficult bolt removal.

[Grumpy21]

I know there are some very knowledgeable folk here so worth and ask.

I have a stuck bolt that I can’t get off and would welcome any ideas to try

Access is very limited and the area is flimsy. The bolt has no head, insufficient material to get a decent grip with a mole grip. Can’t use heat as its on a painted panel, can’t get a in drill to drill it out, been soaking in plus gas for two days. More chance I’ll warp the attached panel than get the bolt out. Far to flimsy to bash with a hammer.

I could get a Dremel to one side but all that would do is make it sit flus with the surface. Still could drill it out due to access.

Cheers

[Shropshiremoggie]

Where is the bolt - any pictures ?

[Bill_qaz]

Could you weld a nut over the bolt then use the nut to bring the bolt out, the heat from the weld should not effect the panel but if worried put wet cloths around it before welding.

[cococola]

Last week I had to remove a snapped bolt with no head so I used an "easy out" which is like a anticlockwise thread cutter.
I drilled a hole into the centre of the bolt and slowly using a small ratchet and socket to connect the easy out,turned clockwise.
The easy out grips onto the bolt and once there is enough grip,unscrews the bolt.
I bought this from tool station and its a life saver...if you can drill first due to space?

[unclealec]

Last week I had to remove a snapped bolt with no head so I used an "easy out" which is like a anticlockwise thread cutter.
I drilled a hole into the centre of the bolt and slowly using a small ratchet and socket to connect the easy out,turned clockwise.
The easy out grips onto the bolt and once there is enough grip,unscrews the bolt.
I bought this from tool station and its a life saver...if you can drill first due to space?

There is a huge downside to these - if they are presented with an immoveable object to engage with, they snap off! You then have a practically undrillable plug down the centre of an unshiftable bolt shank.
They do work - a couple of weeks ago I had a difficult extraction of a wheel bolt that was a locking head and the unique profile had detached from the bolt shank. I drilled away as much of the bolt shank centre as I could whilst leaving enough meat for the easy-out to bear on without expanding the shank, and out it came to my immense relief and surprise.
The secret is to remove exactly the right amount of metal - as much as you can lengthwise, and only enough radially to work.
I would explore every other option first. Over the years I think most of my successes have come from welding a nut onto the protruding stub.

[Grumpy21]

It’s not on a Morris, it’s a pals fiat that needs a new bumper. The rusted nut has stuck into the fixing in the wing that holds the bumper in place. There’s no room to get a drill in or a welding torch either. It had a 10mm head so 6mm shank. I can just get a mole wrench onto what’s left of the head but no room to then turn it. The wing warps anyway when I attempt to turn the nut with the mole. I can just get a dremel in to grind off the nut head but that still won’t help be drill or weld it.

I think I may have to take the wing off with the bumper an attack it off the car

[unclealec]

I don't know about this particular case, but sometimes if you can chop the hex head off it is possible to get vice grips onto the downstream protruding threaded bar and turn it out "the wrong way". This works because the thread that is actually contained within the female threads are not rusted, it is only the exposed threads that cause the problem.

[kevin s]

LH drills often work well.

[kennatt]

you can buy a socket set(Forget name) that has a sort of helical coil instead of the usual flats they are designed to remove worn studs and as you turn them the coil progressively cuts into the head of the stud/bolt and eventually turns it as it bites deeper. Think I got mine from machine mart a few years ago used several times very effective,Mine also has flats on the outside of the socket so you can use a ring spanner to turn it,helps when you have limited space for a ratchet.

[Grumpy21]

Cant get a drill to the head and it only 10mm, that may be too small for the fancy socket thing -especially as its now well rounded - I'll have a look though - thanks

I really need it off this afternoon as I want the get the new bumper on so I can give it him back tomorrow.

Thanks for all the suggestions

[mogbob]

Another thought . Do you have small nut splitter ? The wedge would sink into the bolt head and you would be able to lever the bolt out , with the splitter still attached .... assuming there is room horizontally to rotate.
Bob

[KeithL]

What about a pair of slip joint pliers? You might get a better grip than with the Mole grips.

[StillGotMy1stCar]

What I’ve done in the past for speed with small bolts is, mig a big gnarly weld on top of the rounded off head and find a 6 point socket that roughly fits and hopefully it will easily unscrew. The localised heat does the trick, in my case without damaging the paint work.

Regards John

[Grumpy21]

Well it off. Thanks for all the ideas but it was the dremel that saved the day. Took ages but managed to cut the gnarled head off the bolts and then remove the bumper. Then I could drill out the remains of the bolt and re-tap the thread. Spent about 2 hours on the one bolt in all!

Cheers