Talk about horrible luck. Got my Chevelle as a project car, immediately took the engine out and did a full rebuild. Everything new. Got it back into the car, have it bolted up, got all the brackets/the pulleys/the hoses/belts and everything on. All I needed to do was wire the battery, alternator, starter, put valve covers on, double check oil pressure and then set timing etc... and fire it up. Got up to where I went to put the valve covers on.

One of the bolts must have been in bad shape and it snapped when tightening into the threads. Very easy going on the tightening and snap.

Dad goes and starts to get it out. But in the process, that EZ out thing snapped in there too. Now, I don't know what to do. This was all I had to do before firing this thing up for the first time in 20 years. My first rebuild by myself. Bad luck haha.

What can I do? Drill again... any advice will be great.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/417/bolt005.jpg
http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/6818/firsttimefire002.jpg

Thank you in advance.

If you have a dremel I have cut a slot in them in the past and used a screwdriver to back them out by hand. Just have to be careful and get it cut straight and deep enough to use a screwdriver. Just an option that I have used in the past. Drill bit like cutter for metal and just work it back and forth to make the slot deep enough to catch the screwdriver.

Either that or another EZ out and a little more finesse when working to remove it.

I have used a small drift punch and let the edge dig in and tap with a hammer in the direction you want to go.


Rocky

I was able one time ..to remove the hex part fron a bolt ...drill it out and set the hex on the broken stud ...AND weld enough in the center hole ...
But there was a little stub sticking up ..
If I were you I would just take the head off and return it to the machine shop ..before it is really to late .....
I try and take a tap to every thread to remove any garbage as my first step in assembly of an engine ..:thumbsup:

Welding is an idea but given the location maybe a little JBWeld on another bolt, JB that puppy to the top broken one, let her set up and back it out.

I like the drift punch idea. Same principle as the dremel but maybe a little better control in that tight spot. Just gotta give that bolt head a wedgee. ;)

Oh....cursing at it doesnt work. I stood there and let out about every curse word I know and that sucker wouldnt move. Broke out the dremel and made it bow down to me. I think I still have it somewhere. Will go look. If I do im gonna throw it against my garage wall to let it know I have not forgotten the irritation. :D

before you try to pull it out again get some PB's penetrating oil and spray it on there.

Take the head off and take it to a GOOD machine shop. The extractor is made of tool steel. Even if you get it out by yourself the head needs to come off so nothing goes down into the motor.

Your best set is to take the head off and take it to a machine shop. Now that you have a broken EZ out it will be twice as hard to remove. The more you try and get it out the worse your going to make it and the harder a machine shop will have to work to remove it. You would have been better off drilling the bolt completely out then helicoil or tapping new threads. If you broke an EZ out in the bolt then that bolt is jambed really good

The best bet is to pull it and have the machine shop take care of it.

One of the cars I bought years back had a intake bolt broke in the head and the exact same thing happened with the EZ breaking off. If I would of pulled it off in the first place and had the machine shop do it would of saved the head. They could not get the EZ out either and I had to get another one for the motor.

You might be able to back it out with the above methods but that's IF you had the hole drilled in the correct spot for the easy out, If the easy out broke through the threads it's going to be pretty hard to get out without taking the head off.

LK

Maybe I'm missing something here but how can you twist off a valve cover bolt without smashing the crap out of the valve cover? :confused:

Maybe I'm missing something here but how can you twist off a valve cover bolt without smashing the crap out of the valve cover? :confused:

Maybe it bottomed out & broke without touching the cover.

LK

Did the Easyout break flush with the top of the bolt? Can you grind some of the bolt with a dremel tool to be able to grab the Easyout with needle-nose pliers and turn it Clockwise to get it loose?

Did the Easyout break flush with the top of the bolt? Can you grind some of the bolt with a dremel tool to be able to grab the Easyout with needle-nose pliers and turn it Clockwise to get it loose?

I'm thinking that if it broke in the first place a needle nose is not going to cut it. :D - Takes pretty good torque to snap them. My guess is that the hole was not centered and the threads are now locked in place with the easy out.

LK

Maybe it bottomed out & broke without touching the cover.

LK

That makes sense :yes:

I'm thinking that if it broke in the first place a needle nose is not going to cut it. :D - Takes pretty good torque to snap them. My guess is that the hole was not centered and the threads are now locked in place with the easy out.

LK
That thing must be jammed in there tighter than a ...... ;)
I'd be concentrating on getting the Easyout out and worry about the bolt later. It might loosen up easier if he tries to turn it clockwise. Maybe a small Vicegrip instead of needlenose. Hard to say without looking at it.

I'd be cussing. It might not help get the bolt out but it'd make me feel alot better.

Where I work we have studs broken off in Aluminum Castings all the time.Our Weld shop takes them out without damaging the casting.I think I would try that before I took it to a machine shop.Either way you decide, you still need to remove the head.Just my .02.

Thanks for the responses. First off, the bolt was too tight. My friend and I were finishing building it up when we put break in oil in it. And one of the bolts I was using, WASN'T the right size. The other 7 were, this one wasn't. Must have mixed it up with another bolt. Turned out, slightly longer. So tightening it, it still had a few ways to go before sealing the gasket. Now before I knew it, snapped off. Too tight and eventually found out why that happened. Mixed up that bolt from the valve cover one. Stupid mistake which caused what happened.

Anyway, now that's in there. Remove the valve cover (driver side), and I ask my dad if he can do it. I've never drilled out a bolt but he has so I figured he can get it. After a few minutes, he uses the EZ out tool. Starts getting it easily, and then... that broke off in the stud.

A few curse words later, he comes inside and tells me that problem. And he said I may have to take the head off and have a machine shop get it out. I thought I could just drill through it again and tap it out. But he said you couldn't drill it since it is tool steel.

Can't drill out tool steel... so here I am now. Have the right 4 valve cover bolts, the new gasket, everything almost put together but bolt and tool still jammed in there.

Nothing is sticking out so you can't grip it either.

Best method I've ever seen for removing broken bolts. Worked like a charm on a rusted waterpump bolt broken off flush with the block. Told to me by a machinist friend...may not work for everyone but if you can weld or have a friend who can, it works great.

Get a flatwasher with a hole in it slightly bigger than your broken bolt. Get a nut the same size as your bolt. Lay the washer and the nut over the broken bolt. Weld the inside of the nut to the top of the broken bolt. The washer prevents you from welding to the surrounding surface and allows the nut to turn.

We used this method after wasting 2 hours with easy-outs etc and it took all of 5 minutes and presto!

Best method I've ever seen for removing broken bolts. Worked like a charm on a rusted waterpump bolt broken off flush with the block. Told to me by a machinist friend...may not work for everyone but if you can weld or have a friend who can, it works great.

Get a flatwasher with a hole in it slightly bigger than your broken bolt. Get a nut the same size as your bolt. Lay the washer and the nut over the broken bolt. Weld the inside of the nut to the top of the broken bolt. The washer prevents you from welding to the surrounding surface and allows the nut to turn.

We used this method after wasting 2 hours with easy-outs etc and it took all of 5 minutes and presto!i have done this too...the heat from welding helps too

I found out a long time ago that there is nothing easy about an E-Z out! I have had some luck using a left handed drill bit in a reversing drill. You will need to buy a bit from a good tool store/truck. (about $5) The counter clockwise rotation of the bit and the heat generated may back the bolt out. It has worked for me.

my tool vender sells a kit to remove broken ez outs.cost about $89 and had mutiple sizes in it.can't remember the maker but will see him tuesday.will try to remember to check into it for you.after that I would weld a nut to it like the others have suggested.have done it many times and works great.good luck.also have found that spraying wih pb blaster just after welding seems to help loosen the stuck bolt
eric:beers: