Drilling out easy out

[DWBOX2000]

Any suggestions for correct bit to drill out broken easy out. Brand, size? Easy out was for drilling out a 3/32 to 5/32".
Thanks.

[jsceash]

You may try AlTin, TiAln, or TiN coated cobalt drill bits, If you can't find them, you can order from MSC Industrial online.

[rexcramer]

Do I understand correctly? You have already drilled a hole and broken the easy out inside the hole? If that is the case, you will need to drill around the perimeter of the easy out to try and free the broken piece. The broken easy out is hardened and can not be drilled out without using a carbide bit or better. After drilling around the edges, try a small pin punch to break it out.

Typically the easy out comes with the correctly sized drill bit. I am guessing here, but you maybe using too small of easy out to start with? What is the diameter of the stud you are trying to remove? and what size of easy out were you trying to pull it with? You need to use as large an easy out as possible. If it is rusted, loctite or galled in place. You can also use PB blaster, Liquid Wrench, heat and or tapping on the body with a hammer while trying to turn the stud out. Be sure to give the liquids time to penetrate and work their magic. Good luck

[DWBOX2000]

So it sounds like I can drill out the easy out using a carbide tip and the I will easy out again. I will soak the bolt some more with liquid wrench.
The original bolt is a 6mm x 1.
The broken bolt is the brake line holder on the wheel carrier. It's a small bracket held on by this one bolt.

[rick3000]

Is any of the Easy Out sticking out enough to get a pair of vice grips on it? I had to do something similar last year, end up with vice grips attached to a large bar for torque. Otherwise you will have to try and remove the broken extractor then use a larger one, as Rex described above.

[jcslocum]

Easy outs suck. They should be called Easy-Break Incredibly Hard Aggravation tools. Drilling them is really hard to do successfully. The best option is drilling around is with a small bit and not break one of them off or get a Dremel with carbide bits and try to dig it out. You better get a Heli coil kit to replace the threads once done.

[Jamesp]

Originally Posted by jcslocum

Easy outs suck. They should be called Easy-Break Incredibly Hard Aggravation tools. Drilling them is really hard to do successfully. The best option is drilling around is with a small bit and not break one of them off or get a Dremel with carbide bits and try to dig it out. You better get a Heli coil kit to replace the threads once done.

+1 I won't use easy outs. You cannot drill an easy out as it is as hard as the drill. While it can be ground there is no access to grind it when stuck in a bolt. Use very tiny drill bits to chew away the bolt around it. Slow and careful or they will grab the easy out and break as well. Use a very small cold chisel to tap on the remainder of the easy out after drilling to knock it loose. Get ready for frustration.

[itsnotanova]

This only works if the broken easyout is broken into steel bolt stuck into an item made of aluminum. I had it happen to me once and I took my mig welder to the broken bolt/easy out. You have to build a puddle high enough to where you can also weld it to a bolt. It took me about ten tries before everything came out. Because the piece I was working on was aluminum, the mig steel wire doesn't bond to the aluminum. I also didn't have the voltage high enough to melt the aluminum threads.

[DWBOX2000]

The bolt is 6mm or just over 1/8" in diameter. Easy out is about 1/8 at it's widest point but I did not get it in all the way. (probably why it broke) There is not much room around the easy out to drill out.

I am amazed that everyone is saying there is no bit hard enough to drill into the easy out. I put a dremmel on it yesterday and ground a nice hole dead center into the easy out. Maybe I just keep doing that until its gone. Since the easy out is not so deep, not much is in the bolt to grind out. Obviously desperate for a postive spin.


Thinking outside the box for you engineer types"
The bolt that broke holds on a bracket that holds the brake line to the Wheel Carrier. Is there any type of glue that I could just glue to the bracket to the carrier? I'm getting desperate now. Ideas?

[Xpit77]

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

This only works if the broken easyout is broken into steel bolt stuck into an item made of aluminum. I had it happen to me once and I took my mig welder to the broken bolt/easy out. You have to build a puddle high enough to where you can also weld it to a bolt. It took me about ten tries before everything came out. Because the piece I was working on was aluminum, the mig steel wire doesn't bond to the aluminum. I also didn't have the voltage high enough to melt the aluminum threads.

This works. Seen it done a few times. By a welder , a very good welder.

[Gelbster]

Originally Posted by Xpit77

This works. Seen it done a few times. By a welder , a very good welder.

So ,if we are going to buy a new $1000(??) Mig welder to remove a tiny easy out -just my kinda project ! :-).
For such precise welding on such a small Easy-Out wouldn't TIG be better ?
Either way , which machines do you recommend and why?
The common useage for this situation on the M96 would be the exhaust manifold bolts ?

[steved0x]

Maybe you can find a stainless steel brake line that is longer and can go right into the back of your caliper, and bypass that little piece of caliper hard line that the bracket holds? I think they make kits like that for the GT4 now, but maybe you could get one for yours?

Or get a replacement wheel carrier from Woody, I don't think they are that much.

I have a set of these brake line bracket studs installed on my car, so I don't have to remove the bolt that gave you trouble when I need to remove my brakes:

Brake Line Bracket Stud Kit

Depending on how much hole you have maybe you could get a short stud and epoxy it in on top of your broken bolt and put a nut on it to hold that brake bracket?

Depending on the geometry you might be able to drill and tap a hole next to the broken stud - and then loosen and rotate the caliper hardline bracket to line up to the new hole?

Just brainstorming out loud...

Good luck!

[DWBOX2000]

I like the way you think. the bolt is about 1/2" long. If I wAs able to drill in a 1/4 inch deep or more and then use any epoxy to put a new post in, would that work? job weld work? 3960 psi tensile strength and withstand temps of 550f. Is there stress on that part? Welding is out of the question. Way, way, way to much money.

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by Gelbster

So ,if we are going to buy a new $1000(??) Mig welder to remove a tiny easy out -just my kinda project ! :-).
For such precise welding on such a small Easy-Out wouldn't TIG be better ?
Either way , which machines do you recommend and why?
The common useage for this situation on the M96 would be the exhaust manifold bolts ?

I own a mig welder and build things or repair things with it all the time. My mig is my favorite tool. I wish I had a tig and knew how to use it too. I believe a tig would not be better for this process because it's a slower welding process and would heat up the surrounding aluminum metal too much. You'll need a quick hot weld that a mig will give you. DWBOX, you might know someone who has a mig welder? I get not wanting to do that and my second recommendation would be to drill & tap another hole like Steve had suggested.

[DWBOX2000]

Anyone try a rescue bit?

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by DWBOX2000

I like the way you think. the bolt is about 1/2" long. If I wAs able to drill in a 1/4 inch deep or more and then use any epoxy to put a new post in, would that work? job weld work? 3960 psi tensile strength and withstand temps of 550f. Is there stress on that part? Welding is out of the question. Way, way, way to much money.

I don't think there is that much stress on that bracket, it would be the force of the flexible brake line bending on it when you street the car and hit bumps. It would be a lot of repetitive low stress movements. In my non-engineer opinion

[DWBOX2000]

Rescue bit looked really good from the video I watched. Good marketing. It had excellent reviews. About 60 after shipping but might be worth the price.

[rexcramer]

Keep working it with the dremel until you get the broken part out. Then drill it out with as big a bit that wont compromise the threads. It will come out with a little patience and finesse. Brute force won't help. Tapping on the the part, while applying pressure to the easy out/wrench combo is also really helpful.

A friends mechanic dad told me "sometimes you need to sneak up on it." It took some years and experience to fully understand what he meant. Penetrating oil needs time to penetrate.

Looking forward to hearing of your success.

[jakeru]

Picture? I also like the "weld a nut/bolt to it" idea, but then again I have a TIG welder, so it doesn't seem like that big a deal.

Steel is more in the range of being, at the very least 40k psi tensile strength (and more likely, around 60k-70k psi). So epoxy at about 1/10th the strength is a bit better than duct tape/bubble gum solution, but not close to what the car came with here from the factory. I'd monitor it regularly for breakage if you did something like that - it might actually hold. It just wouldn't seem like a very quality repair for anyone else who had to work on it.

Heck, you could TIG weld the aluminum hole up and re-tap that if you needed to. I'd use 5356 filler rod if I did that, and drill a nice big, clean hole to clean out any old contamination. Minimize the welding to minimize the thermal distortion. Keeping the shock from getting very hot would also be warranted.

If you prefer a high-quality, bolt on solution, replacing the wheel bearing carrier with a good used one might be a good call.

This sort of bolt is a perfect scenario for using anti-seize on the threads, by the way (to prevent future thread galling and seizing.) I put anti-seize on all these sorts of bolts I encountered when I did my suspension rebuild, so no one will ever have the sort of problem you're having. Best of luck!

[DWBOX2000]

I'm going to try that rescue bit. Majority of comments on it were very good. Expensive for what it is but if it works, 50 ain't bad. I'll report back on my success or failure with it.