manifold bolt diy fail

[StateOfMind]

Drill in at an angle from this direction using a drill bit half the size of the bolt or a little smaller and then straighten up the hole in the middle. Drill most or all the way through. Use a torch and heat up around the broken bolt, 250F or higher. Then use your easy out.View attachment 544932

DO NOT drill all the way through. Worse advise so far. You will trash the head

 

[Jeepwalker]

Practice a few times before you do it. Get some 1/4" flat bar stock from your hardware store, drill and tap a few holes. Place a stud below the surface of the 1/4" flat stock and after you've caught on to laying some beads ....practice exactly what you're going to do. Make sure you get it right the 'first' time. I don't want to say you only have one chance.....but if you get it right the first time then you're golden. If not, you have more work. And welds are a lot harder to drill through!

The trick in my book is to learn to hit the stud right in the center with the weld wire, then keep on going, carefully spiral your way around the stud...from the center outwards onto the washer. You can clean the head area ahead of time with carb cleaner and tape the washer over the stud ...you're going to weld to. Tape it to the head ...with masking tape. Once the washer gets hot enough to melt/burn the masking tape, it'll already be securely welded to the stud, so it won't matter. Don't use duct tape, that'll just make a nasty mess. But that's the trick...get ONE good spiral weld from the center of the stud and around to the washer. It's only like 3/8" and you want to get the spiral right. Then weld on a nut. You can partially tape that on too...once it's cooled down. It's all in a hard to reach area, so practice a little and take your time (even though the whole weld process takes 3 seconds!)

It's in a hard to reach area, so that's what makes it extra-fun

 

[Jeepwalker]

What you Don't want to do is get some weak sputter-type welds in the stud. If that happens, I would grind the welds off the stud with like an air die grinder with a soft-nosed carbide burr (like below ...HF sells those now too). Or a dremmel if you have one of those ...and try re-welding again.

 

[professor00]

Practice a few times before you do it. Get some 1/4" flat bar stock from your hardware store, drill and tap a few holes. Place a stud below the surface of the 1/4" flat stock and after you've caught on to laying some beads ....practice exactly what you're going to do. Make sure you get it right the 'first' time. I don't want to say you only have one chance.....but if you get it right the first time then you're golden. If not, you have more work. And welds are a lot harder to drill through!

The trick in my book is to learn to hit the stud right in the center with the weld wire, then keep on going, carefully spiral your way around the stud...from the center outwards onto the washer. You can clean the head area ahead of time with carb cleaner and tape the washer over the stud ...you're going to weld to. Tape it to the head ...with masking tape. Once the washer gets hot enough to melt/burn the masking tape, it'll already be securely welded to the stud, so it won't matter. Don't use duct tape, that'll just make a nasty mess. But that's the trick...get ONE good spiral weld from the center of the stud and around to the washer. It's only like 3/8" and you want to get the spiral right. Then weld on a nut. You can partially tape that on too...once it's cooled down. It's all in a hard to reach area, so practice a little and take your time (even though the whole weld process takes 3 seconds!)

It's in a hard to reach area, so that's what makes it extra-fun

thank you! that is very helpful information! much appreciated!
i do plan on practicing before i even touch the truck. i’m not in a rush to finish the truck so i will take my time for sure.

also good to know about the burr!

 

[professor00]

Practice a few times before you do it. Get some 1/4" flat bar stock from your hardware store, drill and tap a few holes. Place a stud below the surface of the 1/4" flat stock and after you've caught on to laying some beads ....practice exactly what you're going to do. Make sure you get it right the 'first' time. I don't want to say you only have one chance.....but if you get it right the first time then you're golden. If not, you have more work. And welds are a lot harder to drill through!

The trick in my book is to learn to hit the stud right in the center with the weld wire, then keep on going, carefully spiral your way around the stud...from the center outwards onto the washer. You can clean the head area ahead of time with carb cleaner and tape the washer over the stud ...you're going to weld to. Tape it to the head ...with masking tape. Once the washer gets hot enough to melt/burn the masking tape, it'll already be securely welded to the stud, so it won't matter. Don't use duct tape, that'll just make a nasty mess. But that's the trick...get ONE good spiral weld from the center of the stud and around to the washer. It's only like 3/8" and you want to get the spiral right. Then weld on a nut. You can partially tape that on too...once it's cooled down. It's all in a hard to reach area, so practice a little and take your time (even though the whole weld process takes 3 seconds!)

It's in a hard to reach area, so that's what makes it extra-fun

thank you! that is very helpful information! much appreciated
i do plan on practicing before i even touch the truck. i’m not in a rush to finish the truck so i will take my time for sure.

also good to know about the burr!

 

[professor00]

DO NOT drill all the way through. Worse advise so far. You will trash the head

yeahhhh i was already uncomfortable drilling at the beginning so i’m definitely going to avoid more of that.

 

[Scottly]

Welding does two things....It gives you something to grab on to so you can remove the bolt. It also breaks the fusion of the dissimilar metals, while simultaneously causing expansion of those metals at dissimilar rates....The aluminum expands much quicker. DO NOT WAIT until the welded bolt cools to try and remove it. Spin it out. I use a TIG and that bolt would be no issue for me.

 

[professor00]

Welding does two things....It gives you something to grab on to so you can remove the bolt. It also breaks the fusion of the dissimilar metals, while simultaneously causing expansion of those metals at dissimilar rates....The aluminum expands much quicker. DO NOT WAIT until the welded bolt cools to try and remove it. Spin it out. I use a TIG and that bolt would be no issue for me.

thank you! that’s good to know because i was definitely going to end up waiting for it to cool.
man when the mobile welder i had reached out to told me there’s nothing to weld onto and i should dremel cut the bolt out i thought it was game over for me but if you believe it would be no issue for you then seems like he may have just not wanted to do the work.

 

[rzr6-4]

then seems like he may have just not wanted to do the work.

If I was a welder, if I had absolutely nothing else and was looking for work then sure but if I was busy I would also tell you to pound sand. For a welder that just likes to lay beads, getting in a tight space and spending more time trying break the bolt free than actually welding isn't exactly his specialty. Especially if he's nervous about messing up your block. Unlucky for you, when he says no, it's your problem now.

 

[professor00]

If I was a welder, if I had absolutely nothing else and was looking for work then sure but if I was busy I would also tell you to pound sand. For a welder that just likes to lay beads, getting in a tight space and spending more time trying break the bolt free than actually welding isn't exactly his specialty. Especially if he's nervous about messing up your block. Unlucky for you, when he says no, it's your problem now.

100% i don’t knock the guy for it and yup he mentioned he was in the busy season. i just had initially given up when he said i should dremel the bolt out.

 

[Jeepwalker]

...DO NOT WAIT until the welded bolt cools to try and remove it.

I was going to say the same thing. Great advice!!

 

[Jeepwalker]

If I was a welder, if I had absolutely nothing else and was looking for work then sure but if I was busy I would also tell you to pound sand.

Drilling works...so does welding. It's a skill he might enjoy learning and has a hundred other practical uses around the house/farm/etc.

In the end it's all going to work out. If it hasn't worked out...it's not the end.

 

[chri5k]

The hardest part is making sure the washer, nut or whatever you are welding to the broken stud stays centered on the stud. I have made temporary jigs out of some flat stock. Tack weld the nut or washer to the end of the flat stock. Drill a hole in the flat stock jig the appropriate distance from the welded on nut to the nearest bolt hole that is still good. You can then position the nut centered over the broken stud and tighten the bolt to hold it in place. This leaves both hands free to work the welder. I would probably use a stick welder with a short rod. Many of the wire welders have a pretty large handle / head was well as the trailing lead and it can be difficult to position it just right.

 

[Wild one]

Make sure you disconnect the battery before welding,and the closer you can attach the ground strap to the broken bolt the better. You can run one of the good bolts back into the head and attach the ground to it.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Just use masking tape with a hole in the center, and tape the washer to the head like you want it. By the time the tape becomes hot enough to burn the show's already over. And it frees you up to concentrate on the weld....

 

[professor00]

Just use masking tape with a hole in the center, and tape the washer to the head like you want it. By the time the tape becomes hot enough to burn the show's already over. And it frees you up to concentrate on the weld....

will do! just picked everything up with an auto darkening helmet!
i got .035 flux core welding wire. seemed like that’s correct but let me know if i’m supposed to get a different size.

 

[kirk35]

.035 will be fine. Be sure to wear a heavy cotton shirt, odds are you are going to drop some nice sized blobs of molten steel and it sucks when they burn through your shirt.

 

[professor00]

.035 will be fine. Be sure to wear a heavy cotton shirt, odds are you are going to drop some nice sized blobs of molten steel and it sucks when they burn through your shirt.

thank you for the reminder! i will layer underneath my coveralls, i did also “splurge” and get the welding gloves.

 

[Wild one]

thank you for the reminder! i will layer underneath my coveralls, i did also “splurge” and get the welding gloves.

If you grabbed gloves ,try to use one hand to hold the washer in place instead of tape.Tape just adds another contaminate to the weld,especially with a flux core mig wire.Use a wire brush to clean the area up before you do anything,the cleaner you can get the top of the bolt the better. These in a Dremel will clean the top of the broken bolt pretty decently. Tinfoil wrapped around anything you don't want weld spatter on helps protect them.

Amazon.com

 

[04fxdwgi]

71500 much cheaper online

85 bucks at amazon

Amazon.com