hey gang. does anyone have any tips or tricks for removing a stripped header bolt? this is for a 1976 cb750 (not sure if that matters, really). at first it was completely frozen, so i tried wd40, an impact driver, pb blaster, impact driver again, more pb blaster.... nothin, wouldnt budge. now from all my attempts at getting it out, i think it's pretty stripped. is there anything i can do to get this #$%$ing thing out, or am i screwed?

uhh, no pun intended.

(any help would be greatly appreciated, as i am ridiculously frustrated after spending the last 2 hours fussing with these stupid things.)

 

EZ outs are used to remove stripped head screws and bolts. You can find them at any hardware store.

Sea Foam makes a great foaming penetrating spray called Deep Creep. That is what my favorite triumph mechanic used to loosen and remove a set of triple headers on my T150.

 

Are you sure it's not a left handed thread

 

i wish it were that easy hehe. righty tighty, lefty loosy, just like the other 7. :/

 

are ez outs idiot proof? id hate to drill into a bolt and then break the ez out bolt. (and with my luck, it'd happen. )

 

So are we dealing with aluminum? Just wondering. There's a product out there called Kroil, fantastic for penetrate.

 

not sure about what metal the bolts are, but i might be beyond the point of penetration fluid. earlier i called the bike shop to see what they recommended and the guy said either Kroil or PB Blaster. local auto parts only had PB blaster so i picked that up. seemed to work on two other frozen bolts, but this one is just a bugger. and now it's a stripped bugger.

 

Double Post

 

If you can get the Kroil oil, either in an aerosol can or or as liquid, it is the best penetrating oil I have ever used. Get a L/H drill bit the proper size for the easy out you're going to use. Sometimes just drilling them will break them loose. Use the EZ out but don't beat the hell out of it getting it into the bolt after drilling. If you break the easy out off in the hole you are screwed because it is made from hardened steel. If the easy out will not back out the bolt, you will have to dill the bolt out completely and put a Time Sert in the hole. A machine shop really would be a good idea if you can't get it out with the easy out.

 

I`m having a hard time picturing what you are working on, a header bolt with a Philips head? Where the exhaust pipe goes into the cylinder head?

Can you grind off the head and remove the pipe? (you can probably just use a large drill bit and drill on the head of the screw, that will remove the head) then you can grab the remainder of the screw with vise grips and spin it out.

Like Steelhammer said, Kroil...

We use Kroil (Aerokroil) on stuck fasteners on jet engines, works as good as anything I`ve ever used.

Whenever you are going to remove a fastener that you expect to be stuck really bad, give it a shot of Kroil first and let it soak for a bit...

http://www.kanolabs.com/google/