HardcoreZ28
05-11-2009, 09:37 AM
So I was reassembling my Harley motor a few weeks ago and one of the cheap case bolts snapped off on me inside the engine. I was only torquing to 35 ft/lbs and the thing snapped before it snugged down.
Well the problem is two fold here. First the broken end is about 2 to 2 1/2 inches into the case. And second is that the threads have red Loctite on them which is near impossible to break free. Most of the guys on the Harley forum I frequent suggest disassembling the engine and splitting the cases to gain easier access, however I don't want to go that route.
Here is what I'm thinking...my buddy has a machine shop and is going to drill a 1/8 hole straight through the center of piece of threaded rod for me. I'm going to use this rod as a pilot for drilling the broken bolt directly on center. I'll use a reverse drill bit and hope that by some luck during the drilling process it loosens the broken section and backs it out. Maybe the heat generated by drilling will loosen up the Loctite? If I drill through it and it doesn't come out I might try dropping a soldering iron into the hole if it fits and heat it up like that to loosen the bond.
If that fails I guess I can try to keep drilling the hole bigger and either pull out the fragments or retap it for another size bolt.
Anyone have any other suggestions besides pulling the whole motor apart??
Well the problem is two fold here. First the broken end is about 2 to 2 1/2 inches into the case. And second is that the threads have red Loctite on them which is near impossible to break free. Most of the guys on the Harley forum I frequent suggest disassembling the engine and splitting the cases to gain easier access, however I don't want to go that route.
Here is what I'm thinking...my buddy has a machine shop and is going to drill a 1/8 hole straight through the center of piece of threaded rod for me. I'm going to use this rod as a pilot for drilling the broken bolt directly on center. I'll use a reverse drill bit and hope that by some luck during the drilling process it loosens the broken section and backs it out. Maybe the heat generated by drilling will loosen up the Loctite? If I drill through it and it doesn't come out I might try dropping a soldering iron into the hole if it fits and heat it up like that to loosen the bond.
If that fails I guess I can try to keep drilling the hole bigger and either pull out the fragments or retap it for another size bolt.
Anyone have any other suggestions besides pulling the whole motor apart??