Can I tap a hole right below the header bolt in the head? I might have to do that because I have a bolt stuck in there right, which is flush with the head. I probably wont get it out, so I was thinking about tapping a new hole right below the header bolt and modify the header to fit the bolt in there. I need this car running asap so I'm trying to come up with some ideas. Thank You.

 

I think I would try some other routes before I did that. Did you try drilling the snapped bolt directly in the center and using an easy-out?

 

Drilling it out is very hard because what I am using is self tapping screws (that wear really fast when going against the hard metal of the bolt) attached to a 90° angle driver from a drill. If I removed the head, I could probably get it out with a drill bit. Anyone have some more ideas? The broken bolt is flush with the head.

Thank You

 

I'm a little confused as to what exactly you are doing with the self tapping screws. You should be able to drill a hole with the right angle attachment. Then you insert the easy-out in the newly created hole. The easy-out has flutes on it that screw it into the broken bolt in the opposite direction that a normal screw would tighten. This allows it to dig into the bolt and turn it in the direction it needs to back out of the hole.

Sometimes they can be a little stubborn and require a little heat on the surrounding metal surface to expand it some.

If it still gives you trouble, drill it out bigger and use a larger easy-out.

Worst case scenario is that you drill it out too big and booger the threads. You can then run a tap through and try to salvage them or drill it clean and tap new threads. Then you would just have to use a different bolt for that hole.

Personally, I would do all this before I drilled and tapped a new hole. Unless you are very familiar with your head design, you don't know what you might drill into.

 

Find a good welder who can build it out. I've done it many, many, times. That is unless it's super hard to get to. I've bent rods at an angle and used a mirror before to build out broken bolts. Usually the heat of the weld does 90% of the work and breaks up any crud in the threads, and once it's built out the welder can just weld a nut on the end and unscrew it. Trust me, it's 100 times better than boogering up threads w/a drill.

 

DO NOT DRILL A NEW HOLE IN THE HEAD.

Take the time to get what is left of the bolt out of the original hole.

 

yea do not drill a hole in the head. i had the same problem. i broke a bolt off in the last spot on the drivers side header. very hard to get at. my mechanic welded a nut to the end to back it out. thats the best way to get a bolt out of there

 

A friend of mine broke the head off on the #1 cyl, 2nd bolt. Since it was "easy" to get to, decided to drill it himself - the angle wasn't exactly right - hit dexcool - not good...be extremely careful.