Radiator/steering housing

[trombone23]

Hey everybody,

Its winter break for me and its time to work on the cub. I have the engine getting rebored and the radiator getting recored. The problem I have is when I removed the radiator three bolts snapped. I tried to use a drill remover where you drill a hole in the bolt and then instert a special bit that pulls it out. This did not work. My thought was to fill the holes with JB weld and then redrill and tap out. One of hte holes was also drilled a little off center. I have a picture if this would help.


Thanks for your time!
Tony

[trombone23]

The issue is my stepdad said to use the easy outs which I did, and they did not work at all. I know I need to find the center and redrill and retap. Can I use JB weld to fill in the hole that is crooked before I redrill and retap?

Tony

[Bigdog]

I don't know what kind of damage you did trying to use those un-easy outs but you don't need us yelling at you for using them.
Can't say how the J-B weld will hold up but since the damage is done, you have to try something. It sounds like a reasonable repair. Let us know how it comes out.

[Russell F]

Did you try heating it then gently using the easy out. I don't like to use easy outs but i have and with occasional sucess. Heat around the hole and bolt with a torch(ox-acetlyne works best, propane works too just slow). I usually heat it to red or near red then let the whole thing cool down a hour or so, then heat just the casting, remove heat and try the easy out.

Taping the bolt with a punch can help sometimes. if the hole doesn't go all the way through the bolt, slide a punch in and wack the tar out of the bolt a few times with a hammer. then try again. Just be patient and careful.

As for filling with JB weld, that could work as long as you go slow because the drill is going to go the path of the least resistence, usually the JB. I've had luck using a piece of round steel in the hole, JB'd in place to keep it from spinning and drilling it.

Use a guide of some sort also(maybe a piece of 3/8" thick steel with a hole the size of bit centered on hole, maybe one of the radiator brackets). If you go that route use the brackets and find dead center of hole with a set of transfer punchs(available at most hardware stores), then use a piece of scrap steel and drill a hole through it with the first bit you are going to use, then using another transfer punch 'feel' for center on the hole and clamp the piece down, remove the punch and check for center visualy. then start drilll the hole, then change to larger bit, leaving the guide clamped to the housing and drill again. I've done that at work several times, usually with a mag-base drill but a good slow hand drill will work if you are extremely careful and keep it square to the hole.

And as a last resort ytou can always heli-coil the hole after drilling till you get threads and pick out the bolt. But thats a nasty way to do buisness.


Hope this helps

Russell

[400lbsonacubseatspring]

left hand thread, blind taps can help, but they are even more "brittle" than easy-outs. Advantage being, however, they don't spread the bolt like easy outs can.

I used to use these at work on recessed die-bolts that would crack from metal fatigue, just know how much force will snap a tap, and don't exceed it.

Heating the bolt to red-hot will soften the temper of the bolt (annealing) which sometimes is very helpful, if you can get some turning force on it. Heating the "hole" can have either a loosening or tightening effect, depending on quite a few factors. For example....a "ring" shaped hole (a nut for example ...not specifically me) will expand and loosen, while something shaped like a block, with a hole drilled in the center will actually tighten its grip (while heated).