Dear wise handy people… What would you do to extract this bolt….

[Coronita]

So as part of restoring one of my cars during covid times, I’ve been repainting my car at home, and for the most part things have been going ok. Some days good some days bad.

I ran into a snag and looking for a creative solution by some of you experts.

Yet again another stuck broken bolt… How would you extract this?

[img_assist|nid=27256|title=brokenbolt|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=400|height=433]

Drilling is not an option. I need the original thread on the body intact because I need an identical bolt to thread through it, as it’s a vital component to a rollover protection and so I can’t simply drill out the broken bolt and tap it with a larger bolt. (The bolt is a custom bolt for the rollover protection and not something that easily duplicated)…

[spdrun]

File two flats onto the end, apply penetrating oil, heat it with a torch, cool with ice, repeat several times, apply large vicegrips.

[Hobie]

Good news flu. This is an easy job with tig. Yep, you get to buy a new tool! 🙂

Weld a much larger bolt to that stud and after letting some penetrating oil soak you should be able to put a wrench/impact on you new welded bolt and walk it out.

Looks like a trunk lid or a hood. Either way, you have to be very careful about applying high heat as you will warp the sheet metal.

[Coronita]

[quote=Hobie]Good news flu. This is an easy job with tig. Yep, you get to buy a new tool! 🙂

Weld a much larger bolt to that stud and after letting some penetrating oil soak you should be able to put a wrench/impact on you new welded bolt and walk it out.

Looks like a trunk lid or a hood. Either way, you have to be very careful about applying high heat as you will warp the sheet metal.[/quote]

it’s not a trunk lid, but it’s a bolt that a hardtop and rollbar can attach to.Andnhigh heat will destroy new paint.

I was thinking welder too. Do you have a TIG welder to recommend that won’t break the bank? Would a harbor freight flux or arc welder work too? Those are pretty cheap .
I know nothing about welding.

https://www.harborfreight.com/welding/welders.html

[Coronita]

I was able to get the bolt thread off by jamming two hex nuts together so that I could turn the thread more into the body panel and then it came out once I turned the hex nuts the other way.

Looks like I’ll need to postpone getting a welder again..

Crisis averted!

[img_assist|nid=27258|title=bolt|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=300|height=300]

[gzz]

I would get a newer car, and also avoid situations requiring rollover bars on my car.

My current car is a 2010 and just developed its first problem: when I run the AC, a purple liquid drips onto the floor of the driver area, sometimes directly onto my right foot.

A general mechanic said he couldn’t fix it and to take it to an AC specialist.

I may just get a new car.

[Coronita]

[quote=gzz]I would get a newer car, and also avoid situations requiring rollover bars on my car.

My current car is a 2010 and just developed its first problem: when I run the AC, a purple liquid drips onto the floor of the driver area, sometimes directly onto my right foot.

A general mechanic said he couldn’t fix it and to take it to an AC specialist.

I may just get a new car.[/quote]

Nah, I have 4 newer cars, this one is 26 years old and has sentimental value. It was my dedicated race car and I have a history with it. Plus there’s one car that I want to order when orders open up again, and I still owe one car to friend that I a lost a bet too (which he thinks I was kidding)…

The story behind this 26 year old car is related to real estate…

You see, back when I use to work at Broadcom, I got a very large stock grant that vested. And I had put the deposit down to pick up a brand new 991 911s in Guards Red. Retail price $125k plus tax. And I was about to go pick it up that week. But a few things happened that week.

1. My insurance agent called and told me my insurance on that car alone would be around $2800/year extra a year on top of what I was paying, and there were mileage contraints of no more than 3000 miles/ year.

2. I came to work and told my boss and my friend what I was getting. And my friend, race junkie said I was crazy to buy a new car and field it for autocross/racing, especially since I was just starting out….

3. My boss, a total diehard Porsche guy that hand built his own race porsche (obviously not street legal) also said, I shouldn’t get the car if I’m starting out. He said something about getting a Porsche with a dual clutch transmission was like committing adultery or something like that. I guess he’s known as a “purist”….And said that if I got that car I would never ever get a manual transmission car again, and would miss out. (He was right BTW).

4. Real estate friend called me up and says, “hey I got a short sales that might be available for $125k. Are you interested? If you don’t jump on it, you’re going to regret it…”

So it was the perfect storm… I cancelled the Porsche order, took the money bought the condo for about $132k after closing and repairs, and took $1850 and bought this POS 26 year old car from this nice dentist hygenist so I could learn how to drive a manual gearbox 2 weeks before my first autocross and 1 month before my first track day.

My first autocross, I had the best time ever. You see, while everyone else brought their high powered BMW and Porsche and Audi etc, and had to be careful around the cones, and the potholes at then Qualcomm Stadium so as to not damage their really nice car…Me? I didn’t need to give a shit. I was hit cones left and right, drove over potholes like I didn’t care, tried to figure out what taking a late apex really means means, spun a few times, went off course a few times, and took out one entire section of cones that probably pissed of the corner workers.. No abs brakes, no traction control, no electronic nanny…And it was a lot of fun. Every single body panel had marred cone marks from hitting something, and I had an excuse to do all of that…Because I was a newbie…. I wouldn’t have done that with the brand new 991. I would have driven that like a pansy and gotten a lot slower time and learned a lot less. So this charade lasted a few years longer. That $2000 investment ended being 10 sets of tires, new suspension, new supercharger, new brakes, and a bunch of other things I did that I forgot. I think the total bill came out to around $12k or something like that…and nothing but smiles and fun…

That investment property? Cashflowed positive around 7% with a single tenant until I decided to sell it and do a 1031 exchange for something closer to me… at $315k and change….Meanwhile that 991 911s? Probably retained 65% of it’s value.

Throughout these years, I beat the shit out of this car, and it even caught on fire one time. Still survived. I decided to spend some money and restore it, including a new paint job, and straightening the front end bumper frame that came slightly bent when I bought it.

And after that, will put in a full roll cage and a 5 pt race harness, and (something I should have done a lot earlier), and fire suppression system.

One day, hopefully I’ll be good enough…one day…

[Coronita]

Btw gzz.. you can do what I did. Rip out the ac. it saved me 40lbs of weight. Gram strategy…

[Hobie]

.

[gzz]

I’d take out my sunroof first. I read somewhere they add 300lbs. I don’t use mine very often.

[sdrealtor]

[quote=gzz]I’d take out my sunroof first. I read somewhere they add 300lbs. I don’t use mine very often.[/quote]

You obviously havent seen his Miata

[Coronita]

Lol. It’s not that bad…

[img_assist|nid=27259|title=|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=400|height=375]

It still has both airbags (for now). The dashboard hasn’t been taken out (yet). I haven’t started drilling holes (yet) into non structural body panels like the trunk floor to further reduce weight.

Plus I did put the door panels back on because they don’t save too much weight, and without them, my legs were getting cut up by the sharp metal edges when I went around corners, lol…

I think it’s down to 2250 lbs. I need to shave off another 120 lbs after I put in a in a full cage and a carbon fiber hardtop.

Might end up removing the power steering and swapping for a manual rack. Don’t really need it. Less things to break.

I likey fun little tinker car. It’s a piece of shit, but I never need to worry about where I park and what I hit and if someone hits me (provided I don’t die), it’s instant insurance money in the pocket.

[scaredyclassic]

[quote=Coronita]Lol. It’s not that bad…

[img_assist|nid=27259|title=|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=400|height=375]

It still has both airbags (for now). The dashboard hasn’t been taken out (yet). I haven’t started drilling holes (yet) into non structural body panels like the trunk floor to further reduce weight.

Plus I did put the door panels back on because they don’t save too much weight, and without them, my legs were getting cut up by the sharp metal edges when I went around corners, lol…

I think it’s down to 2250 lbs. I need to shave off another 120 lbs after I put in a in a full cage and a carbon fiber hardtop.

Might end up removing the power steering and swapping for a manual rack. Don’t really need it. Less things to break.

I likey fun little tinker car. It’s a piece of shit, but I never need to worry about where I park and what I hit and if someone hits me (provided I don’t die), it’s instant insurance money in the pocket.[/quote]

Bicycle nuts obsess over grams on the bike, but often carry 30 extra pounds around their gut. Its the total weight that matters not just the bicycle weight.

At this point, for this car, driver weight might matter. Maybe wear lightweight shoes and lose 10 lbs. Be sure to peepee prior to race . No underwear. Remove watch.

[Coronita]

[quote=scaredyclassic]

Bicycle nuts obsess over grams on the bike, but often carry 30 extra pounds around their gut. Its the total weight that matters not just the bicycle weight.

At this point, for this car, driver weight might matter. Maybe wear lightweight shoes and lose 10 lbs. Be sure to peepee prior to race . No underwear. Remove watch.[/quote]

Funny you should mention that. When I have an event. I don’t eat breakfast and only eat after the timed event, and pee right before the timed laps. Drops about 15 lbs right there. That’s half weigh savings of from switching from a traditional 32 lb lead-acid battery to a 3 lb lithium iron phosphate motorcycle battery. Been there, done that…

[img_assist|nid=27260|title=morepospix|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=400|height=350]

I think I can shave another 20lbs if I switch out the stock brake rotors and calipers for a aluminum wilwood 2 piece kit, plus the unsprung weight savings. Maybe when my brakes need to be replaced..

Clearly, you haven’t hung out with miata guys. There’s something called the “gram strategy”… (although mazda has taken that to an extreme lately by shipping cars with faulty transmissions…)

Gotta keep the power/weight ratio in check to keep up with the higher powered cars. It’s also a bigger advantage around the corners (not so much in a long straight line)…Easier on the tire budget too…

Light, cheap, fast… Pick 2.

[scaredyclassic]

Race in just a speedo.

[Author]

Posts