The big experiment - amateur 3B shenanigans

[Jamo]

exhaust off. think i ended up wearing most of it.



This classy bit of kit is the straight through that was welded onto the back when the back box was bggred in the bump. I wonder if the professionals have considered a good severe angle like this. bound to be good for the exhaust gas flow


By the way that reciprocating saw is a life saver. don't fancy having gone through that bolt with the junior hacksaw.

WTF is that?

Looks like a p*w£r fl0w job to me ( allegedly )

[Nj]

I have that exact set and the tools are spot on

mine's the slightly bigger one that stevie (dubbedup) bought me for my birthday. and it's holding together really well so far. Only thing i've killed is a 13mm spanner when I was bending it to reach the dizzy bolt a while ago.
Good stevie did buy me that kit or i'd be stripping the car with a pair of pliers and a swiss army knife.
cheers stevie

[Nj]

WTF is that?

Looks like a p*w£r fl0w job to me ( allegedly )

haha. that's the DIY job the previous owner stuck on after killing the back box.

[Acidburn]

haha. that's the DIY job the previous owner stuck on after killing the back box.

That's some back box, what's wrong did he only have a right angle for inspiration?
Still at least its got the cat replacement pipe's on it.

[Nj]

managed a quick visit after work today.
Heat shield off


Loosened prop shaft bolts with rear wheels on the ground (cheers Az)


And it all went **** up when the last bolt crumbled as I tried to loosen it. I've done a fair bit of ranting so i'll not do any more. I managed to cut a channel in the bolt head with my trusty saw and now have to figure out what I can use to loosen the b4st4rd. A flat blade screwdriver would hardly do anything other than strip the skin from my hands. I had to come home to eat so I'll have to work it out later. If I was to cut the head off the bolt could I drill the rest out without damaging the thread of the diff, or whatever it's actually fixed into?
Any suggestions welcome on the back of a postcard to the usual address, or you can call my competition entry line at £1 a minute, but it's obviously a fix anyway.

[Acidburn]

Could try widening the cut in the bolt then use a screw driver as a leaver in the gap, or some decent molegrips if you can get them on the head?

[S2central.net]

I'd just angle grind (or saw) the ****** off - worry about new nuts/bolts later !

[AndyP]

Try tapping it round with a small chisel, if that fails you could try welding a new nut on top of it. The heat from the welding will help loosen the bolt and you'll be able to get a good grip in the new nut.

[4WheelDrifter]

I had to smack a socket onto my propshaft bolts. Then you need a vice and a punch to get them out of your socket.
It sounds like you were lucky, about half of my bolts were siezed. I had to drop the gearbox, propshaft and rear diff down as one, then I had a lot more elbow room to work.

[G s2]

hey not long joined the forum just having a gander through and i admire your enthusiasm,as for the bolt you could gring the head off it and when you remove the shaft there should be enough thread sticking though to get a good grip with molegrips

Good luck with it

[Greg_S]

you could try enlarging the slot so you can get a metal bar inside of it to increase the leverage you have.

[Nj]

cheers lads. I may end up trying all of the above. and if i swear at it enough it might loosen off a bit too.
what's the science behind heating a bolt to loosen it? surely if it's warmer it expands in the threaded hole and makes it harder to remove? or do I heat the area the bolt is in?

[Nuvo]

And it all went **** up when the last bolt crumbled as I tried to loosen it. I've done a fair bit of ranting so i'll not do any more. I managed to cut a channel in the bolt head with my trusty saw and now have to figure out what I can use to loosen the b4st4rd. A flat blade screwdriver would hardly do anything other than strip the skin from my hands. I had to come home to eat so I'll have to work it out later. If I was to cut the head off the bolt could I drill the rest out without damaging the thread of the diff, or whatever it's actually fixed into?

Noel, I think you might need the Irwin screw and bolt extactor set (Product Code: 040219431) from good old Machine Mart. I'm not sure if the slot you cut will cause the bolt head to shear off in the struggle though .

[Nuvo]

what's the science behind heating a bolt to loosen it? surely if it's warmer it expands in the threaded hole and makes it harder to remove? or do I heat the area the bolt is in?

Hmm, Apply heat it to expand it and then add oil to rapidly cool it and break the corrosion between the threads to free it off. You can also freeze it using one of those release agent aerosols. I can't remembr the product name of hand. Loctite do one.

[4WheelDrifter]

You mean pipe freezing spray, available from any good plumber's merchants.
My hammer and socket method worked fine. Although with the prop on the ground I had to get the trusty crowbar on the case too.