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- Newsgroups: rec.autos.tech
- Path: sparky!uunet!destroyer!cs.ubc.ca!alberta!adec23!mark
- From: mark@ve6mgs.ampr.org (Mark Salyzyn)
- Subject: Easy out: Easy in, but not easy out
- Organization: ADEC Systems Inc.
- Distribution: na
- Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 18:25:22 GMT
- Message-ID: <1992Oct9.182522.6706@ve6mgs.ampr.org>
- Lines: 42
-
- Darn (or some similar expletive), I broke the head off one of the bolts
- that holds the shock tower to the cast spindle assembly in an 1981
- Honda Accord. I started drilling the bolt out, when it occured to me to
- grab one of the easy outs to see if I can help it.
-
- Anyways, the Easy Out broke off in my hands and in the partially drilled out
- hole. I guess it had a crack in it from the last use (years ago, I was
- afraid of breaking these things off in the bolt so I refrained from using
- them ... :-( ). It broke off TOO deep in the hole for me to get it out.
-
- The hole diameter is 5/16" (ie, small). I have tried using Carbide, Cobalt
- and other `super' bits to drill the easy-out and have found them all
- balding :-( or just no shavings of any form come off the Easy-Out (perhaps, if
- I had patience, I might eventually drill through, but that would be months ...)
- I could drill alongside, but alas I now can't drill out the broken off
- Cobalt bit from that attempt :-(
-
- I tried removing the other suspension parts to get the spindle assembly
- out only to find that all the other bolts are, or will, meet the same fate
- as the first bolt (heads snap off). If I could remove even one of those
- bolts I could `flip' the spindle assembly to gain access to the back side
- to drill out from the other direction (then I could simply poke the
- Easy-Out ... Out). But no-can-do (yet).
-
- I have access to propane torch, 230A Arc welder and other incendiary
- devices, but not sure if they will help me get this out. I have been
- told that no drill bit that I can purchase from the local tool warehouses
- is as hard as the Cobalt bits I have been using.
-
- Any tools/procedures recommended to solve this problem?
-
- If nothing else, I could buy a whole new rear suspension and cut out the
- old one (grrrr).
-
- No `how much you got invested in the car' cracks that I get from the various
- amateur mechanics, I simply don't want to be beat by this one. I have NEVER
- seen a rust problem so bad, and I used to own FIATs. Why didn't Honda design
- their suspension parts so that there is clearance between the bolt and the
- slieve, or hole, to allow for rust expansion. You'd figure they would have
- learned from the American cars ... Now don't all yack at once ...
-
- Ciao -- Mark Salyzyn mark@ve6mgs.ampr.org alberta!adec23!mark
-