Tech / General Engine Is your car making a strange sound or won't start? Thinking of adding power with a new combination? Need other technical information or engine specific advice? Don't see another board for your problem? Post it here!

Broke upper head bolt and extractor.. Need options

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 04-21-2013, 10:37 PM
  #1  
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
camarofvr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 87 Camaro Z28
Engine: TPI 350 bored .030 over
Transmission: 700R4
Broke upper head bolt and extractor.. Need options

I've broken an extractor in a bolt that broke on the upper alternator bolt hole on the head of my 87 z28. I was thinking of a custom lower bracket that doesn't require the head accessories but about the only ones I've found require a short water pump. Can I maybe drill and tap a 3/8 hole just a little lower and get away that or are there any better ideas you guys have besides swapping heads because it's my daily driver!
Old 04-21-2013, 11:39 PM
  #2  
Supreme Member
 
SpitotRs305's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,974
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 91 RS
Engine: 350 vortec
Transmission: T-5
Axle/Gears: not the best not the worst
Re: Broke upper head bolt and extractor.. Need options

can you get another much smaller hole down along the edge of the extractor? or a mig welder?
Old 04-22-2013, 02:35 AM
  #3  
Supreme Member

 
novaderrik's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Howard Lake, MN
Posts: 1,293
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 4 Posts
Car: 86 Camaro
Engine: 355- hopefully a 5.3 this summer
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: Broke upper head bolt and extractor.. Need options

serpentine setup?
if so, you might be able to get by with that bolt missing as long as all the braces are intact.
Old 04-22-2013, 06:43 AM
  #4  
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
camarofvr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 87 Camaro Z28
Engine: TPI 350 bored .030 over
Transmission: 700R4
Re: Broke upper head bolt and extractor.. Need options

That won't work. It's the setup with a v-belt on the power steering and serpentine on the water pump and alternator. I thought about maybe trying to convert to full serpentine if I could find the right donor. Will any setup work? I'm concerned the fuel lines might get in the way plus I don't have the air pump installed.

Last edited by camarofvr; 04-22-2013 at 07:10 AM.
Old 04-22-2013, 07:23 AM
  #5  
Supreme Member

iTrader: (1)
 
sofakingdom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 26,160
Received 1,697 Likes on 1,290 Posts
Car: Yes
Engine: Usually
Transmission: Sometimes
Axle/Gears: Behind me somewhere
Re: Broke upper head bolt and extractor.. Need options

You will spend FAR more, take FAR longer, and cause yourself FAR more grief, by all this "get out of doing what I have to do" crap, than if you just meet it head-on and deal with it.

"Daily driver" doesn't matter.

Pop the head off and take it to a machine shop. Car-pool for a couple of days. It's not the end of the world.

In the end, I just have to ask; WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP TRYING TO USE THOSE STOOOPID THINGS? I have never, EVER, not even ONE SINGLE TIME, seen one those work. Now granted, I've only been in this hobby 40 some-odd years, so I'm still quite the n00b, and just getting started; but you'd THINK, if it was possible for them to work and not do EXACTLY what just happened here, that at least ONCE, somebody would have got a bolt out with one. But no.... this is how it ALWAYS ends... yet, people keep on buying them. Next time you see somebody ask how to get a broken or stuck bolt out, help them out; make sure you tell them, DON'T USE AN EZ-OUT. You now have the experience to know better.
Old 04-22-2013, 10:05 AM
  #6  
Supreme Member

iTrader: (8)
 
TTOP350's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Il
Posts: 11,734
Received 795 Likes on 528 Posts
Car: 1989-92 FORMULA350 305 92 Hawkclone
Engine: 4++,350 & 305 CIs
Transmission: 700R4 4800 vig 18th700R4 t56 ZF6 T5
Axle/Gears: 3.70 9"ford alum chunk,dana44,9bolt
Re: Broke upper head bolt and extractor.. Need options

The trick to the easy out is knowing how and when to PROPERLY use them.
I have only broken 2 in my 30plus years of using them, granted I only use them maaaybe 3 times a year.
Old 04-22-2013, 10:12 AM
  #7  
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
camarofvr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: 87 Camaro Z28
Engine: TPI 350 bored .030 over
Transmission: 700R4
Re: Broke upper head bolt and extractor.. Need options

This is the second time the bolt broke and the ez out took the first one out just fine. I probably should have just thrown it away in case it weakened.
Old 04-22-2013, 10:36 PM
  #8  
Supreme Member

iTrader: (1)
 
Sonix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
Posts: 10,763
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 4 Posts
Car: 1982 Trans-Am
Engine: 355 w/ ported 416s
Transmission: T10, hurst shifter
Axle/Gears: 10 bolt, true-trac, 3.73
Re: Broke upper head bolt and extractor.. Need options

Holy cow - sofa you're still here preaching eh?

Ez outs work great -- if the bolt isn't in there too tight. However - if you've snapped a bolt head off, you already know how tight it's in there.... Tight enough to snap off an easy out, making for a VERY bad day. That being the case, if you break off a bolt, and start to use an ez-out, make sure you've soaked it in PB-blaster, or heated it up-etc to break it loose. Otherwise you'll be where you are now...

You can't skip the bolt, and you can't drill another hole. You're stuck either trying to use pliers (I can't visualize where this bolt is, or how much is sticking out of the hole..?) - or taking the head to a machine shop
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
evilstuie
Tech / General Engine
22
01-09-2020 08:29 PM
IROCZDAVE (88-L98)
Interior Parts for Sale
4
10-06-2016 09:08 AM
355tpipickup
Engine/Drivetrain/Suspension Parts for Sale
1
08-25-2015 12:54 AM
86White_T/A305
LTX and LSX
0
08-17-2015 12:16 AM



Quick Reply: Broke upper head bolt and extractor.. Need options



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:17 AM.