Most Conservative Way to Remove Broken Bolt Piece?

 A few years back I added a sissy bar to my 2006 Honda Shadow 600. This
involved replacikng (with longer bolts) the four bolts that hold on
the turn signal bars.

Being the anal retentive guy that I am, I added a bit of blue loctite.

Yesterday I noticed that one of the bolts looked loose (or more likely
something had settled), so I just wanted to snug it down.

In the process of rotating the bolt, I sheared it off.  I can't tell
where exactly, but the piece I have has a few threads.  It was because
of the loctite.  It was turning, but with a lot of resistance due to
the loctite, then the bolt gave way.

The threads of the bolt go through a metal inset that is welded into
the frame.  The end of the bolt (maybe 1/32-inch) is reachable in the
wheel well.

Anyway, since I don't want to damage the frame, here is what I plan to
do.

a)Remove all the trim, wiring, fender, etc. in that area of the bike
so that I can hit the bolt with a heatgun safely if I need to.

b)Drill and tap a smaller bolt into the bolt to try and rotate it
clockwise.  I may be able to turn it clockwise so it falls out the
wheel well).  Would try heat and penetrating oil at the same time.

c)If that doesn't work, maybe or maybe not try an EZ-out (would prefer
not to try that initially because the buggers are probably so hard
that if I break one of those it woujld be impossible to drill).

d)Drill progressively large holes until I get out to the tap size and
try to remove the bolt material that way.

Any other suggestions?

Riding season is coming to a close here, so I'm in no hurry.  I did
see an accessory on the Internet to help you center a hole precisely
in a bolt, so I'll guy one of those.

Any other or better thoughts?

Thanks, DFC

 Datesfat Chicks wrote:

  You might find that the heat from center drilling the bolt will soften the
loctite and let the bolt turn . It should just spin on out the back side . I
wouldn't try to pull it back thru the front , what bound it up was probably
corrosion on the exposed end under the fender . Using a centering guide is a
very good idea . The most likely time for that bolt to start spinning is
just when the tip of the drill bit breaks thru the end of the bolt . If the
first drill doesn't move it , go ahead and step up drill sizes until one
does or you reach the minor diameter of the bolt and can run a tap down the
hole .
--
Snag
Learning keeps
you young !

 


Try applying heat before attempting to turn the stuck bolt.
This should soften the Loctite. Torch or heat gun.

 On 22/09/2011 8:44 AM, Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:

The way the heat treatment was explained to me was apply heat to the
bolt. The bolt expands and as it cools and returns to its original size
the locktite breaks up.  So it is important to apply heat and then let
it cool before trying to loosen the bolt.

The guy who passed along this info to me suggested getting one of those
small pencil torches so the heat can be applied directly to the bolt.

I have never had the occasion to try it, but I am fairly experienced
using an easy out. ;-)

--
Disclaimer
Do not believe a thing I have said, unless you already know it to be
true, or can independently verify it from another source.

Reeky Ride To The Rockies
http://actualriders.ca/reekyrockies.htm

 wrote:

I've also had pretty good luck with Kroil penetrant.

Somehow, in the back of my brain I seem to have retained
a memory of what happens when you try with all your
might to turn something. I think it's been a decade or two
since I really got that medieval on a stuck fastener.