Topic: Stubborn rounded off bolts - Tips/Tricks to get them off!

[Hope]

I am posing a question and making suggestions all in the same post:

How do you get those rounded off bolts off your old CB?  My current dilemma is my oil filter bolt that is tight as &*$%^& and equally rounded off.

Here are some tips/tricks I found thus far:


1) Good quality vice grips and BFH (hammer)
2) Welder (weld another nut onto it)
3) One technique I've used to good effect is to use a hammer and cold chisel to
apply impact at the periphery of the stuck bolt or nut (in the looseningdirection, of course). If you have enough room around the bolt to swing a hammer
(the bigger, the better) and can get a good purchase on the edge with the
chisel, one or two sharp blows will almost always free it.
4) Craftsman Bolt-Out sockets http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@0255333746.1177693085@@@@&BV_EngineID=cdcdaddkkhkmfdjcefecemldffidfno.0&pid=00952161000&bidsite=CRAFT&vertical=TOOL&ihtoken=1
5) Stanley Proto bolt extractor socket provides easy alternative to removing rusted and imperfect bolts http://www.stanleyproto.com/xhtml/literature/ProtoBoltEtractorSockets_T20266.pdf
6) File the bolt head down to the next smaller size. In other words, make some fresh new sides to that bolt head. Then, use next size smaller socket on filed bolt.
7) Get a cut off wheel and slot it so you can turn it with a flathead screwdriver.
Irwin BOLT-GRIP fastener remover http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?prod_id=100051815&cm_mmc=1hd.com2froogle-_-product_feed-_-D25X-_-100051815
9) Get a chisle or something sharp and hammer a notch into the side of the head of the bolt. Then get a flat head screw driver and put the tip of it into the notch at an angle so that when you hit it, it will twist the bolt.  <--- This is likely how the last person got the bolt off the bike last time because it has the notch in it
10) My favorite tool for this is a special Channel Lock Plier with rounded jaws that "cam into the fastener. It grabs so tight that it will twist off a bolt before letting go. I bought mine off the tool truck (MATCO).
11) use some big vise grips and clamp the down on it with some even biger channel locks and hit it with a hammer


Pick your favorite method, or suggest which method you think I should use for the oil filter bolt, or add to the list.  This is a pretty common problem and others will benefit from your suggestions.

[kslrr]

On my 350F, I filed the bolt end so that it is rectangular and I then use an adjustable open end (Crescent) wrench.  This makes for 2 long sides on the bolt head.  I filed it over 20 years ago when I was still riding it and just recently was able to easily loosen it after sitting for 15 years.

[tmht]

What about a good, old-fashioned impact driver. The kind you smack with a hammer.

[BobbyR]

I usually take the next size or smaller socket and hammer it on. It does two things, it shocks the bolt and the the inside of the socket digs into the head.

[merc2dogs]

 also Irwin makes a set of easy outs for bolts, spiral cut like regular easyouts, but fit over the bolt head

 Looked at them a couple times and figured they couldn't do anything I could get done with a cold chisel and a pair of vice grips, or using the socket trick (fractionals on metric, metric for fractionals works most of the time) then one day I made a junkyard run with a friend who had some, they worked great, I stopped on the way home and picked some up.

Ken.

[Hope]

I picked up the Irwin BOLT-GRIP fastener remover and the bolt came right off....  but I needed a cheater bar...  Someone put the rounded off oil filter bolt back on the bike last time with too much torque. 

I had already ordered the bolt because I don't believe in putting that kind of crap back on the bike... 

I'm a little surprised that folks here admit to putting the crappy bolts back on their bikes. 

[Jonesy]

For the stubborn oil filter bolt, I've resorted to a pipe wrench- the more you turn it, the more the teeth on the jaws dig in.

For engine covers with stripped phillips-head screws, I've just drilled off the heads and then when the cover is removed, you can grab the threaded stem of the screw and easily remove it.

[twisting_edge]

No one knows why Honda put such a small head on those damned things. In 1992, one guy told me it got to be such a problem there was an aftermarket duplicate made that had a nice big head on it (the size of the entire outside ring, in fact), but wasn't very well made. He had them in stock, and offered me one, but I agreed with him that it didn't look well cast.

The prior owner had used a monkey wrench on mine for years, and it was completely round. I not only filed a notch in it, I used a hacksaw to cut a slot all the way down after destroying the blade of a good screwdriver. Then I tried drilling it out, not knowing what the part underneath looked like (that was the night before my discussion with the Honda shop). The next night I came across an abrasive block fitting for a drill while looking around for inspiration. The block started off as a cylinder square in cross section, about an inch long and about that wide, but wound up about half an inch long and about that wide before I was done.

I think I still have that part floating around somewhere. It was the first time I decided to get a little rough with the bike. I didn't grind the whole head off, I just went into the middle of it and worked my way out towards the rim until the flange started to give way and loosed it's hold. I had cut slots in the flange as well (after tearing off the rest of the "nut" earlier in the process), and would hammer on them using a sharp screwdriver as a chisel to attempt to turn the flange every few minutes as I got closer to the edge. You could see the metal split apart in places before I made it to the juncture of the flange and the tube. That sucker was on pretty tight.

It took a few hours, needless to say.

[edbikerii]

No one knows why Honda put such a small head on those damned things. In 1992, one guy told me it got to be such a problem there was an aftermarket duplicate made that had a nice big head on it (the size of the entire outside ring, in fact), but wasn't very well made. He had them in stock, and offered me one, but I agreed with him that it didn't look well cast.

The ones with the bigger heads got tightened even more, making removal more difficult.

[Jonesy]

I read that the original filter bolts had a larger nut on them, but the bigger wrench required to turn it gave more leverage and made it easy to overtighten and crack the filter housing. Honda beefed up the casting and made the nut smaller to prevent this, but it made for an easy-to-strip hex on the bolt.

Most aftermarket filter bolts I see have a 17mm hex head, same as the drain plugs for the sump and tank. Makes it convenient to only need one wrench for an oil change!

[twisting_edge]

The ones with the bigger heads got tightened even more, making removal more difficult.

That's probably true, now that you mention it. The last guy to work on my bike (other than me) evidently decided gorilla-tightening proved his manliness or something. Trying to get the inspection ports open was a disaster, and the oil filter "bolt" (not stripped anymore, thank you, I take good care of it) actually split my socket, I would up putting so much force on it. I didn't even think you could split a socket. Granted, it was a cheap socket, but still. If you stand on the end of the wrench and bounce up & down, I guess something has to give (my rollbar braces the end of the wrench for that manuver nicely, I found).

Even the oil-filler cap (you know, the thing you tighten with your fingers, not an impact wrench) was impossible. Rather than damage my fingers any more on it, I wadded up some paper towel for padding and used a crescent wrench. Even then, the contest was in some doubt for a while.

[cb350twin]

Impact drivers are pretty handy but you can only use for screws right? What about the Gator Grip socket?
 
http://www.endeavorproducts.com/ggrip/ggrip.html

Looks pretty neat but I don't know how durable it is.. Ive been thinking of using my Sears gift card on the Gator Grip or Craftsman Bolt-Out socket set .

[TomC]

Hi cb350twin
     I don't know about Gator Grips but I used my impact driver with a number three easy out in the original hole, and some heat, to remove a broken bleeder.
          TomC

Impact drivers are pretty handy but you can only use for screws right? What about the Gator Grip socket?
 
http://www.endeavorproducts.com/ggrip/ggrip.html

Looks pretty neat but I don't know how durable it is.. Ive been thinking of using my Sears gift card on the Gator Grip or Craftsman Bolt-Out socket set .

[dusterdude]

torch

[jabbadeznuts]

If you can get a grinding wheel in there, cut a slot or two slots 90* apart and use a screw driver to get it out. If that doesn't work, chisel and hammer it is. 

[yesplease]

Depending on the OD, a proper sized 12pt warrantied socket hammered over the bolt works great.

[burmashave]

Some follow up thoughts:

1) Like TMHT, I'd go with the impact wrench if it'll stay on the head at all.
2) For #9, I don't use a screw driver.  I simply start a cold chisel on the head so it's turning the head as it digs in.
3) I know some guys swear by extractors and easy-outs; however, I had one break leaving me nothing to turn.  It was the most difficult thing that I've ever drilled because the extractor was extremely hard, and I needed to keep the hole centered so it wouldn't ruin the hole.

I'm able to just barely get my oil filler bolt off without resorting to other techniques.  I wonder if anyone has tried deforming the filter to relieve the pressure on the bolt.  Mebbe you could work a small chisel around between the bolt and filter.  Unlike most other places where a fastener is stuck, there's no problem destroying the part that the fastener is holding. 

[johnny-from-bel]

I am an expert in welding on bolts. I weld it trough the center hole. The the pneumatic impact driver on it. Comes off every time.
I repaced the oil filter bolt with one with a bigger head.

[Chad]

I really liked the craftsman bolt-out kit. It helped me get my oil drain plug off.



My current battle involves 12 screws holding the right crankcase cover. I managed to get 2 off with a proper screwdriver.  The others are either stripped or not cooperating.  Any advice?

[Bob Wessner]

Are you using an impact driver?

[burmashave]

Definitely pick up a hammer type impact wrench if you haven't already. They're usually not expensive; I would think you could get one for about $20. You'll use it again while working on your SOHC4, so it'll come in handy.

For stripped philips head screws on the covers, I've resorted to drilling those that were too far stripped for an impact wrench. I pick a bit that's just a bit smaller than the outside diameter of the screw. I drill into the center of the philips head just until I get through the head into the screw (I might go up a size if necessary). The head will come free from the screw. The covers come off with the screw heads off, and in my experience, I have had no problem at all twisting the screw out. Without the compression on the screw head, stuck screws can turn easily.

[mystic_1]

#10, #7, and #11 from the original post, in that order of preference, should do the trick on the phillips screws. 

Drilling and easyouts works too, just don't get too rambunctious with the drill and make sure you're centered and straight.

mystic_1