broken bolts

Jim I marked the drils with a wax pensil for a 1/64 larger clearance bit then tapped the block with the recommended size. My neighbor with '66 & '68 mustangs has a MAC tap & die set. Worked great. Thank you for all of your input though. I wanted to try without removing timing cover H.B. poss dropping oil pan etc. I just took my time drilling and used transfer punches for center accuracy. Thanks again Rob

Thank you all that replied. I first tried to drill a centered hole and extract the bolts. That didn't work so I drilled the bolts out, oversised and re tapped. Worked great Just need some warm weather now.
Rob

Ok joe and 79 N I'm convinced and I agree I'm just a little intimidated by the looks of what I have to remove to get there. It is more than a timing chain cover. Looks like the balancer alt and fuel pump too. the latter of the two aren't a problem.   do I remove the harmonic balancer? tipically crank bolts are difficult to remove. I may be overlooking something here. I'll study it a little harder before digging in though. Thanks again for all your advise I'm amazed at the response. Rob

It might be a lot easier and safer if you remove the timing cover and expose the bolt instead of trying to reach down a deep hole to get it out. I'll have a much better chance of not screwing things up as well by removing the cover.

   JIH is very intelligent and has things in order. I noticed he suggested to cool the bolt off with water instead of a cold beer!!

   All joking aside, its gonna take patience and time. Keep us posted on the progress..

                                   Jeff..

Brian; I'm with you, drink 6 and then call my mechanic.

john

Applying heat in that part of you motor area is dangereous but, if you have an acetylene torch and know how to use it here is a technique I have used for years that works very well. This works if enough of the bolt is sticking out to get a pair of vice grips on it:

Apply a lot of heat to the bolt until it turns dark cherry red. Then back off and let the heat get absorbed into the part the bolt is screwed into. Then apply more heat to keep the bolt a dark dull red. It helps to apply a little heat evenly to the part the bolt is screwed into immedialty surrounding the bolt-hole. When the bolt and part are hot enough so when heat is removed from the bolt it remains dark red turn off the torch and quickly pour a lot water over the bolt BUT DO NOT get any water on the part the bolt is screwed into. As soon as the bolt is cooled to where it is no longer red grab the bolt with vice grips and unscrew. You will be suprised - the bolt will almost fall out. The idea is that the bolt and part are expanded by the heat and then the bolt is shrunk by the water. This works well but only with an acetelyne torch. Mapp gas and propane are not hot enough.

If the bolt is broken off so vice grips cannot be used here is another tip that I have used and seen used many times:

Use a center tap and a large hammer to make a dent into the center of the broken bolt. Drill a small pilot hole first then drill with a larger bit that will let you insert an EZ-Out. With a good torch tip, not a rose bud, apply a lot of heat directly to the end of the bolt. After the bolt turns bright orange tap your EZ-Out into the hole and pour water over the EZ-Out. Tap it into the hole again before you try to unscrew the bolt. Cooling the EZ-Out will shrink the bolt and help extraction.

This works well but the EZ-Out will be sacrified as it will lose it's temper.

(Sears sells a nice little portable acetylene torch set.)

I agree with most all of above. BUT, make sure you do like 87sn2001 suggested and tap (rather hard, several) on the end of the stud with a hammer. I am mentioning this again incase you skimmed right past 87's suggestion. This step is very important because it sets up vibrations that will help break the rust's grip loose. Tapping in combination with penetrating oil is very important.

all good suggestions and hopefully work for you..I work with brocken bolts all the time and the helicoil idea is usually the finall out come..but if you can get any kind of grip on the broken bolt..tap it with a hammer before and juring the removal process using vise grips..if you do have to drill, start small then work your way up..easyouts have worked many time for me but boats seem to be that much more stubborn (maybe that's why boats are name after ladys names all the time).. if the easyout spines on you take a torx bit socket and hammer the largest one that you fit in the hole you've drilled. if all eles fails exhaust shops have some of the best methids to remove rusty old bolt..take a case of beer with you..gets there attention.. one more thought that came to mind..if there is a stud left..and your vise grips are just spinning. I've used torx sockets..female torxs sockets meaning they look like a regualer socket but there torx pattern..hammer the smallist size you can over the stud..this is how I got my rusty broken exhaust manifold stud out of the head on my engine
good luck

     If they snapped because they are rusted in the hole, drilling and easy outs I find dont work. Easy outs or reverse drills generally dont have enough power to remove bolts/studs that are frozen without breaking and creating another headache. I recommend to drill the bolts out as best as possible, trying to keep things straight and centered. I then would use a Dremel too with a carbide bit to grind the remainder to the threads, oicking out the pieces. Then go buy a Helicoil, fix-a thread, or similar stainless steel thread insert. Drill, tap, install insert, and you have BETTER than new!! Good Luck!!

                                 Jeff..

Woodboy. I think you are going to have to pull the circulating pump. You are going to have to be able to grip the bolt shaft with some vice grips. If the bolt is broken off flush with the head or block it will be time to get the hand drill out to drill a hole into the bolt and try the easy-out bolt extraction tool.

Post pics of your broken bolts if possible. Many folks here can give you step-by-step procedures for this.

You can forget the 10 minutes at this point.
Once you get the pump, brackets, and other things out of the way you can proceed with bolt extraction. The first thing to do, after you can grip the bolt shaft with vice grips, is to soak the bolt with penetrating oil at the point where it enters the bolt hole (in the block or head). Soak the bolt at least over night. Apply the oil frequently. Some oil is better than others.

   

The way my Raw Water Pump bracket is mounted is the bracket mounts on the side of the block or timing cover don't recall which and uses two 3/8 or 5/16 bolts about 1.5 long. Sounds like you have removed one of the water pump/circulation pump bolts and it is common for them to break. You should be able to remove the rest of the bolts and remove the water pump, then there maybe enough of the bolt to grap on to remove it the rest of the way. Good louck, post some pictures if you can