I am very close to completing the installation of my new air cleaner and Bassani exhaust. But, as with every other project I seem to have ever done in my life, there is one glitch. I have a broken stud in the rear exhaust that is being about as stubborn as can be. I have about an inch still exposed. i have tried slotting it to use a screwdriver - no luck. I have sprayed on a bunch of PB Blaster but it is pointing down so it mostly just runs off (bottom of the two studs). I have used Grab-Bits and no luck. I have tried a bolt remover, no luck. I have used every pair of vice grips I have, no luck.

My next tactic is a butane torch and the vise grips again. Anyone know of a tool that is made that might go one the outside of the stud and get enough grip to let me turn it? Anyone have any other bright ideas?

 

I don't know that a butane torch will get it hot enough. I've always had to break out the acetylene to get results. Good luck; that is how my projects usually go, too.

 

Just a thought here: How about a tool called a "Stud Remover"? Harbor Freight, Sears, etc. all carry one of several types.

 

well, I'll be darned. Autozone didn't have anything like it, neither did Advanced. Good old Sears! Gives old meaning to using the right tool for the job. I'll pick one up today!

 

good luck with it. worse case youll have to start drilling , in the center. and keep moving up on drill sizes until you almost drill it completely out. i had a aluminum oil sending unit extension in my wifes 70 mustang i had to do that with, wasnt to bad, well lets say i finally got it out.

 

SnapOn has the undisputed best stud remover.Working on 50+ yr old John Deeres I have every concievable stud remover on the planet,none of them worked on the head studs.Along came SnapOn with the newly released Stud Remover Bingo out came the stud!!!

 

Well, I picked up a Sears stud remover, the cam type, and although I was hoping it would do it, I would need about 1/4" more stud than I have to get it to hold on. Looks like I'm going to be drilling. I think I will use my dremel to cut it off about 1/8" from the head and then drill in about 1/2". At that point it ought to be good and hot so I'll give the easy out another shot. This thing really sucks and is holding up all my fun. We have had 2 great days with the temps in the mid-80's (global warming my butt) and my bike, with all its new mods, is just sitting there. Work keeps getting in the way too!

If there is a lesson in this I am really having trouble finding it!

 

Bad to worse! I drilled it out, all the time continuing to try to use an EZ-out but with no luck. Finally, I thought I had it all aligned fairly well and I took a 5/16x24 tap I had and started to work my way into the hole. If my thinking was right it should actually just clean out the remaining stud as I was aligned fairly well with the threads. I worked it in a ways and just as I was thinking it was probably far enough - snap - the tap broke in the hole! So now I am basically screwed.

Fortunately I live near Race City, USA and have several friends that are race mechanics. One I saw tonight has some friends with a machine that can use ultra-sonic waves to shatter the remaining pieces of the tap. I just have to figure out how to get it over there and all. He told me to stop messing with it, any further effort on my part will only make a bigger mess!

This is the mountain that came from the mole hill.

 

Too late now, but for future reference:

Don't use Easy Outs. They are terribly mis-named. They should be called "Total Disaster Waiting To Happens." If you insist on using one, then drill the bolt/stud out until you are almost to threads and use the largest one you can find, then very, very carefully make sure you apply only rotational force on the easy out. I actually prefer the cheap chineese versions because they tend to twist or bend instead of snap, and when they snap off, the metal is soft enough to do something with afterwards.

There are at least 2 types of stud removers, the cam kind and one that has internal ball grippers. Sometimes one fits if the other doesn't.

Sometimes, you can jam 2 nuts together and back the stud out.

If a little bit is sticking out, but not enough for the nuts trick or the right tool, you can put a nut on the end and weld the nut to the stud, let it cool, then back it out.

If you're going to drill it out, then drill it all the way very carefully and Timecert or Helicoil it.

Busted taps can sometimes be removed with a hammer and punch, where you hit the tap tangentally to back it out. Sometimes a good pair of needle nose pliers will get them out. Also, they make a busted tap removal tool that has long fingers that reach down the tap flutes.

 

Makes me wish I had bought a little mig welder - the nut on the end of the remaining stud would have probably been the best solution.