| Author | Message | ||
     Rokoneer  |
The machine is an '03 XB9R. It was fairly warm today in the Northeast and I thought that it would just be a swell day to pull the 12 airbox out of my 9 so I could spend the winter modifying it, like all the kids are doing. Pulled off the outer cover and the top of the airbox proper and took out the filter and thought to myself that since I had taken it apart that far I may as well pull off the bottom of the airbox to see if I have any scuffed plug wires and to just see what it looks like under there. The airbox lower is held on by four stainless Torx head bolts at the four respective corners of the piece and while they had obviously been assembled with LocTite I was able to get the first THREE out with little effort. Oh but that fourth bolt, the one on the top right hand side, she was stubborn. I got her to spin a bit and then a little bit more and then just enough to pop the head right off it. Hmmmmmm, this is interesting. The bolt broke off flush with the mounting hole but with an angled breaking point. So here I have a broken off stainless bolt in a cast aluminum frame that also happens to be the gas tank. The angle of the break would make drilling a straight line into the bolt difficult, I believe, plus do I really want to be drilling in to the fuel tank? I have a set of those fancy Craftsman Easy Outs, but have a hard time believing they would work on a stainless shank that is set up with LocTite. I'm thinking the Easy Out would just 'reverse drill' the bolt shank but never grab it enough to unscrew it. If memory serves correctly I think you're supposed to use heat to release red LocTite, but holding a torch against a gas tank just does not seem like the way I would choose to leave this place. I'm open to all suggestions, opinions, and criticisms........Thanks | ||
| Court |
>>>>but holding a torch against a gas tank Wise move. Besides you might be mistaken for an Amstertralian. Court | ||
| 12bolt  |
you could try using a heat gun, there isn't an open flame like you would get with a torch. Don't know if that would get hot enough to loosen up the lock tight though. Your Screwed... literally! | ||
| New12r  |
My best advice is to drill the hole on low speed with a titanium bit and just rethread the thing. Even if you have to go just a little bigger and sacrafice some thread depth. | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. I'm not laughing at Rok, but at myself. I had the exact same thing happen to mine, but on the front left side. Stay away from Easy Out or any similar tool. I drilled a small hole (1/8 inch) through using a tungsten coated bit. It was really easy. You should be careful to drill only through the remaining bolt - you will know because there's a spacing between the bolt end and the bottom of the bolt hole. Then I drilled a bigger hole. I should have continued with a larger bit and that should have solved the problem. It would have been really easy to enlarge the hole a step at a time, and then remove the remaining bolt with a carbide tap. But like an idiot, I tried to use Sear's Easy Out. JUST DON'T. I hammered the Easy Out into the hole and rotated. Snap. Now the hardened steel is embedded in the hole. I ended up using a Dremel with diamond coated bits to grind down the Easy Out and the remaining bolt. Took three days and many many bits. But I learned my lesson the hard way. Due to much grinding, I lost the thread. So ended up using Helicoil. Good luck - the better grade the drill bit, the easier it will be. | ||
| Rokoneer |
DC, I feel so incredibly relieved that I'm not the first to have to endure this circumstance! Thanks very much for the tips, looks like I'll be shopping for the hardest friggin' drill bits I can find tomorrow. The tricky part is still that the break is not a flat smooth surface but has about a 30 degree angle and is fairly rough due to the the bolt head twisting off. This will make it 'tricky' to try and center a drill bit on there.... I'm glad to know that there is a hollow underneath the bottom of the bolt as I was doing a pretty good job convincing myself that I would drill right in to the gas tank if I were to go an iota too far when drilling. Many thanks for the input from everyone! | ||
| Bake |
Can you make a dam with a putty, then fill the dam with epoxy to get a level surface to start the drill in? | ||
| M1combat  |
Good call Blake  . | ||
| Newxb9er |
Somebody is thinking around here! Where would a lot of us "Garage Mechanics" be without this place? Yeah, try the epoxy(use JB Weld), and then do the single bit at a time routine. The only way to do it. | ||
| Grt |
12Bolt has got a good idea. You could also use a soldering iron placed directly on the bolt. It will take some time, probably several minutes, for enough heat transfer to occur. This works very well with epoxy bonds. With epoxy you will usually see a tiny puff of smoke when enough heat has been applied to break down the bonding material. Once the Loctite bond is broken you may be able to cut a slot in the bolt with a Dremmel tool so you can use a flat blade screw driver to remove it. G. | ||
| Blake |
That is a good idea, not mine though. | ||
| Surveyor  |
I've had something similar happen (not on a Buell)I was able to fit a nut over the angled stump using a combination of two pack epoxy and the threads that projected above the threaded hole. I filled the nut hole flush (with what I can't remember) and this gave me a level surface to start drilling out the broken stud one drill bit size at a time. Only problem I had was cleaning up the residual epoxy after knockin off the nut afterwards but this was down to my sloppiness in the first place. | ||
| Rokoneer |
Most excellent suggestions from all! Thank you VERY much for ending my despair  ! | ||
| Reepicheep  |
Been there done that with the easy out. $30 and 5 hours worth of diamond tipped dremel bits to dig out the busted out easy out. Easy outs are evil. You can take the diamond tipped dremel bit and create a new "hole" in the center of the sheared bolt shaft that you can then center your drill bit on. Heck, you might even be able to do the same thing with just a center punch. Use good sharp drill bits and a lot of patience. Left handed bits would be best, but I can never find them. I have had great experience with heli-coils, so while I would work hard to save the original threads, I would not despair if I just have to drill the stupid hole out slightly larger and slap in a heli-coil. | ||
| Chainsaw  |
Once, a long time ago in a galaxy far away...I broke a couple of bolts of in the cylinder heads of my truck. I broke a number of bits trying to get a hole big enough for an Easy Out to no avail. I took the head to a shop down the street from me that removed the broken bolts with (IIRC) an Ultra Sonic Water Jet. Disintegrated the bolts, left the threads intact. Cost me $20 and a case of beer. I have broken my far share of bolts off on my bikes, Easy Outs have worked so far. I have used Anti-Seize (that stuff you put on your axles) on the airbox bolts that go into the frame, along with a touch of blue Loctite. So far, so good. YMMV. | ||
| Jasont |
I have some experience with broken bolts, I was a machinist in the Army and have extracted hundreds(not kidding) of broke bolts. Reep right, use the center punch in the center of the stud, get a carbide tipped drill bit and carefully begin drilling. Use lots of step drilling. I agree that some easy outs are evil. There are different styles of easy outs, i have had lots of success with straight ones, if you use these don't get in a rush, use the biggest one you can, and use the nut (that you put your wrench on) next to the stud, only there. seen too many break that were too small and not on the broken stud. Can you drill all the way thru the stud? By the way, I take delivery of my new 12r this month when i get out of the desert. good luck | ||
| Dcmortalcoil |
Yes, you can and should drill completely through the broken bolt. Mine also broke at an angle. I had no problem drilling dead center after center punching. All you need is a small divit to get the drill going. | ||
| Whistle |
Geez...ya still have THREE good holes! I guess for some guys three good holes just isn't enough!  Seriously though, I would probably use a dremel to level out the mussed up bolt remains. Then centerpunch. Then heat with a soldering iron or a heat gun (most soldering iron tips run at ~600 deg F), then I would use reverse thread tips and hope the bolt just comes out, but it probably wont. So from there either re-tap the original threads or go heli-coil. Lots of knowledgable folks on this board!!! Good to know you've always got someone to turn to when ya bust a nut...errr a bolt! later, Nick | ||
| Xb12scg05 |
If when removing these bolts and or any bolts that are installed with loctite a good rap on the head of bolt before using wrench will break bolt threads loose and will allow easy removal |
