I was just fitting my 4x4 intercooler to my sapph and went to drop the rad but one of the bolts snapped There's thread left exposed but with molegrips on it I can't get it to shift I don't know what to do now, isn't modifying cars fun

 

Try some heat on it...

 

weld a nut onto what's left of the bolt

 

I'll see if I can get a blowtorch.

I can't weld anything on there because I don't have mains in my garage and it's a mile from my house

 

Have you tried winding two nuts on the exposed thread and titening them together so they can't move freely and then on the top nut you should be able to use a spanner to turn and it should remove the remains of the bolt. If that makes any sense at all

Stud extractors I have discovered are an extremly usefull tool (but only when theres enough thread exposed )

 

same thing happened to me mate...

Zip ties to the rescue

 

mite be worth drilling it out and re-threading it?

Trev

 

The remaining thread is long gone due to the molegrips

Hmmm there's a thought

I'm thinking about that too. What a bugger

 

If it won't come out, I'd snap it off flush and drill it out to 6.7mm then tap it back to 8mm thread (13mm spanner size).

 

the amount of times I've tried that and failed to drill in the centre of the stud is unreal !!!!
it's an art I don't have!!

steve

 

lol I've done it once but I'm sure that was pure luck

 

Yes!! usually very difficut but as there is a cpative nut, there shouldbe plenty of meat left to tap into if you do drill slightly off centre!

Best bet is to centre punch it first and use a very sharp/new drill bit. Start with a smaller drill bit and thenuse the bigger one. The centre punch stops the drill from spinning off and signing your name on the chassis leg.

 

If you hav'nt damaged the thread with the molegrips, than just leave it in place and use a nylock nut to secure the intercooler back in place.

I.E. use the snapped bolt as a stud.......job done

 

DOH! The thread is now very funked I was trying so hard with the molegrips to remove it last night that the bolt is now a bit squashed I wish that I'd used 2 nuts on it instead of molegrips now but it's too late for that

 

Got any freezer spray? If not get down B&Q or other diy/electrical stores & they should have some. Works for me on aircraft

 

Freezer spray? I've never heard of that Would you use that to freeze the bolt to make it contract?

 

file flush then centre puch it in a anti clockwise direction. take your tho...

 

paulpalmer Indeed. The bolt should contract making it 'not as tight' on the threads
Might be easier than trying to get tools in to file/ drill/ extract if it's still in the car.

 

That sounds like a plan I've been down Halfords at lunch looking for inspiration and pipe grips might undo it but the ones they sell looked crap