Problem getting heads off

Flynnt

Registered User
One of the rocker arm bolts got stripped since the genius that put them on before I owned the car torqued them way too high. I've tried hammering a socket on and even welding a nut but nothing is working. The nut just breaks off each time.. My friend suggested that the bolts might be aluminum and that's the problem, is this the case? If not, any other suggestions on how I can get it off?
 
Flynnt said:
One of the rocker arm bolts got stripped since the genius that put them on before I owned the car torqued them way too high. I've tried hammering a socket on and even welding a nut but nothing is working. The nut just breaks off each time.. My friend suggested that the bolts might be aluminum and that's the problem, is this the case? If not, any other suggestions on how I can get it off?

A guy on our Gulf Coast board used this and says it has saved his butt several times.

Oh yeah, $30 for the craftsman bolt out kit which has saved my life many times. I almost had to yank the engine due to a stuck headbolt that rounded off.

Justa an idea
 
forcefed95sc said:
A guy on our Gulf Coast board used this and says it has saved his butt several times.

Oh yeah, $30 for the craftsman bolt out kit which has saved my life many times. I almost had to yank the engine due to a stuck headbolt that rounded off.

Wow, that seems to be stuck on there pretty good. Mine was stuck on there bad to the point where it had stripped the head. I went to SEARS and bought the Craftman Bolt Out kit for $30. If you do, Make sure you get the one that has the 15mm head in it. Not sure if it will work if its stuck on there that good but hopefully it will work for you as well. Good Luck.
 
Turns out my brother had a set of those so I tried them out but it wouldn't grab. I busted out the dremel and a grinding bit and went at the bolt heads figuring I could just have someone drill the rest out or remove it somehow. Once the heads of the bolts were off the rocker just popped off with no problem at all. The rest of the bolt was still in the head but strangely... it was very loose and I was able to remove it by hand. The other head also had a bolt that was stuck so I grinded that one too. The stud that remained was too tight to remove by hand, but without giving up I grabbed a pair of pliers and went at it. Twisted out no problem.

I just thought it was really weird that they were so easy to remove when the head was off. Could the grinding have loosened them up or could the tops have been fused to the rocker somehow?
 
yeah Flynnt

Same experience... Two rocker arm bolts and a head bolt stuck in the block... Thats the thing about aluminum... It expands... As soon as I drilled the heads off the bolts the pressure was gone and the stubs of the headless bolts turned right out...
 
Sometimes on stuck bolts, you can heat them up with a little propane torch and they loosen enough that you can get them out. maybe the dremel put in enough heat to do the trick.
 
The one bolt got plenty of heat when I welded a nut on.. maybe that's why that one was easier than the other, but it still wouldn't budge at all until the head was off..
 
Pray that any of you never have my situation. The top drivers side tranny bolt rounded off. Talk about a tight spot. Took almost 2hrs of grinding, pounding, wrenching, and swearing to get it off. Gotta love when these things happen.
 
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