Whats up guys,

Long story short...I was an idiot and let a friend of a friend who was starting up an LSx shop here install a heads/cam set up. Car made it 0 miles before problems started(tune was garbage, front cover leaks oil, loose grounds etc etc). Tied up that stuff best I could. Then 1500 miles later, my brand new ATI balancer spun off the crank and into the steering rack and roughed both up a little bit. So I had to yank the rack anyway(c5 z06). These are only several of the many problems I've had with this idiot.(Naturally, dude is out of business already)

Pissed off...I think its a good idea to ditch this moron's "custom" grind and go with an FTI Streetweeper. New cam shows up, Im not working, good of a day as any. Yanking everything off is going pretty smooth til I get to the cam retainer plate bolts.

These MF'rs are gorilla'd in there. These are the countersunk T40 style heads.

First bolt completely destroys the T40 bit and takes out the T40 threads with it. I try another and it was tight but was able to get it out. The two other are completely seized in as well. I probably let my **** attitude about the whole deal get the best of me and tried to gorilla the others out with a T40 and a T40 "plus". So I'm definitely guilty of making this **** ordeal worse.

Every damn bit twisted or broke off. So I'm stuck right now with 3 outta 4 bolts stuck into the block with gnarled up heads.

-Tried to beat a T45 into the stripped T40 head, no luck.
-Heated the bolts with a torch, nothing.
-Tried 3 different easy outs, completely worthless. They'd grab a little bit but spun out with a little torque.

The heads of the bolts are completely wrecked from prying, drilling and easy outing them. Theres really nothing left to grab onto.

Only thing I can think of at this point is to weld a bolt onto the head and hope(however i have zero access or know how with a welder) or pull the damn short block out and let a shop have at it.

Any other ideas before yank the motor out? Sorry for the long read

 

Like you said weld a nut onto it, Left hand drill bits to try and extract them, or just drill carefully and clean up the threads..

 

I've had VERY good luck with these Irwin extractors. Use the correct bit and get it started by tapping it in a bit with a hammer. With the correct size hole drilled in the bolt, these dig in pretty deeply into the hole.

Heating the bolt will make it BIGGER and it'll be even harder to get out. Heat the block around it a bit avoiding the bolt as best you can.

And NO lubricant, it'll never make it into the threads but it will lubricate the extractor's splines, which you don't want.

If you end up drilling the bolts out and you hit the threads in the block, there's no way to "clean up" the threads once they're damaged. You'll need to Heli-Coil them.

 

Yeah Im worried about screwing the threads up. I've drilled maybe a 1/8" into one, the extractor grabbed as its supposed to but didn't have enough drill to back it out. Put a wrench on it and it just stripped out inside the bolt. The damn things are so over-torqued its sick. Ill have to see if I can get the irwin set-up locally and give er hell.

 

Can you get the car to an exhaust shop where there is a mig welder and someone who knows how to use it? If so have them weld a small flat washer onto the bolt and then weld a nut on the washer around the edge in two or three sopts. Make sure they dont try to clamp the ground on the washer. Use some point on the block away from the bolt to make the current flow through the washer into the stud to get good penetration. Dont worry, the aluminum block wont be harmed the least little bit. Use water to completely cool off the bolt as to make it shrink back to its original size. When the bolt is cool then take a small propane torch and heat the block around the bolt while trying to get it to turn. I have had very good luck with broken exhaust bolts on aluminum heads this way.

 

It's 2 feet in the air on jackstands. No steering rack, so while thats possible, it would be a nightmare. I appreciate the tips though, if all else fails, I'll definitely use that info.

I was able to easy out one more last night...but broke the easy out on the 3rd bolt. So I have two bolts still stuck. I have the Irwin extractors in the mail, so gonna let er rip as soon as I get those.

Appreciate the help fellas

 

My last resort would be big piece of plastic over everything but area to work on, cut hole
tape it on, then grind the heads off of the screws, probably have to get new plate though.
Good luck

 

Heat the general area, hit what's left of the bolt with a can of freeze spray, then try your ez-out...

 

Carlos, can you post a pic of the bolts?

 

They are flat head bolts. Nothing to grind off.

 

flathead, panhead,carriage,countersunk,machine, sheetmetal, etc...
all have heads, just have to grind a little deeper. That is just my last resort, and
guaranteed to work, and yes I have done that plenty of times.

 

I think you may have more problems (some that have not surfaced yet)... I would have a total lack on confidence in this particular engine...

for example: if these are the countersunk tapered cam retainer bolts, then the cam retained is now damaged and should be discarded because it will leak oil;

what else was screwed up...?

damper spun off, how are the threads in the crank...?

why is front cover leaking...?

heads were previously installed, was any of the bolt holes screwed up (any cracks on outside of block...?)...?

 

Yeah I can grab some later on after work...

Im with ya, which is why Im going through the extra effort of installing new cam, lifters, pushrods, gaskets, heads etc etc.

Im confident the short block is fine as compression checked out on point and truth be told, the car hauled *** as it was(457rwhp/415rwtq). It ran great overall. It was the execution of the install obviously that was **** poor and Im going through it in hopes of picking up some power and reliability.

The retainer bolts are the first and hopefully the only snag I've hit. I've got a new retainer and new bolts en-route from BTR. I've definitely made the retainer plate unusable. I'm just hoping I can limit it to that.

Appreciate everybody's input!

 

Update...Paul Bell's Irwin kit worked like a damn champ. Popped the last two out no problem.

Thanks again for all the input fellas