How to Remove a Rusty Nut or Bolt

[Little Indy]

I know this is elementary to most, but a few may need the knowledge and most might learn one more technique. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Soak in penetrating oil (Liquid wrench, Marvel Mystery Oil, diesel fuel, WD40, oil of wintergreen, bore cleaner). Allow time to work. I like to soak the rusted fastiner once weekly for a month or two with diesel fuel.
2. Gently hammer the proper sized bolt out from Sears, Irwin, Home Depot and twist counter clockwise.
3. If broken off then stud remover (if stub is long enough) or spiral extractor, or multispined extractor after drilling proper sized hole.
4. Heating with torch then applying penetrating oil when warm not red hot.
5. Burning the nut off with torch.
6. Using torch to weld another nut.
7. Striking the bolt or nut with hammer and with medium force then more penetrating oil.
8. Cutting groove in nut with dremel and then enlarging groove with chisel and then more penetrating oil.
9. Cutting off nut with cut off wheel.

[Brent]

To remove larger bolts 3/8 and up that are deep seated the following works:

- Drill the bolt out with the largest bit you can use that won't damage the bolt hole threads

- Use a saber saw with a narrow metal cutting blade and saw through what is left of the bolt in three or four places. Don't worry if you saw into the threads a little it won't hurt anything.

- Take some bread, not Mama's homemade, but the doughy stuff and put it in the drilled hole. With a small chisel or screw driver loosen one of the bolt pieces and extract with a small set of needle nose pliers. The bread will keep the bolt pieces from falling into the hole and will desolve in water or oil.

- Put a sealer on the new bolt and you're ready to go.

I just removed two hydraulic fittings I busted off. Sounds like it would leak if you saw into the threads but I have never had one do so. Maybe one of our plumbers can tell us why it doesn't.

[Ritter107]

I don't know if anybody else has done or seen this, but brake fluid has worked wonders for operations like that.