I bought a 96 Savage a few months ago for $750. The previous owner had kept it garaged for several months since he bought it. He was always going to do something with it and decided he just needed to make room. He couldn't help himself and got it running the morning I was coming to get it. He had posted it as running last he knew, so him getting it running just sweetened the deal for me. My Wife hates when I bring junk home. When I got there he said he'd ridden it numerous times throughout the day, had it up to 55 mph and everything sounded good. He started it for me and we warmed it up, listened for noises, and it had a cam chain whip when you'd let off the throttle. It was really loud, a nasty rattle after any throttle, so I just shut it off. I knew about the tensioner thanks to the forum and I wasn't scared, paid the man and left.

My first step into investigating the cam chain tensioner involved removing the exhaust and of course I broke the upper-most stud off flush with the head. I left it and went on investigating and just the other day went back to work on getting that bolt out.

My first thought when extracting any bolt is drill a hole right through the length of it, heat it, spray penetrating oil through the bolt in hopes that the oil can release the corrosion from the inside out and then tap an EZ-Out in until it will bite and back the bolt out. I had my doubts on an EZ-Out working since the threads were bound hard enough to snap the stud in the first place and I should have skipped the EZ-Out altogether, but I had high hopes for the heat I had used and the penetrating oil. It was not to be as I broke the EZ-Out flush with the end of the bolt.

That's when I found the thread where Newb went through the...let's call it a learning experience. So all of the warnings and words of wisdom were running through my head as I went back to the shop to reconsider my situation. I had already drilled one hole right down the center of the stud, but now there was an impassable object blocking the way. I thought, How hard can that EZ-Out be? So I started drilling and it went! I was chewing right through that tip for about 3/16" and then it came to a sudden stop. I had drilled enough of the taper away that it wasn't super tight in the stud anymore, so I used a punch to tap the tip right on through the bolt and into the bottom of the hole. Then I used a 1/4" drill bit and bored what was left of the bolt out. A magnet was able to drag the EZ-Out tip out and what was left of the stud peeled out of the hole like a slinky, or an old Heli-Coil. I have the 8M tap I need to clean up the threads and just need to put a new bolt in the hole, but it's darn hot today so that can wait until it cools some.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 08/19/16 at 19:47:55:



No doubt, there's hard headed, and then there's what I read in that thread.

Left-hand bits could help a lot of extractions, for instance when over-tightening breaks the bolt and there's no longer tension on the threads. This exhaust stud never even budged however, this may be a situation of metallurgy. I've heard old-timers mention Stainless Steel and Aluminum not being happy together. I think engine heat is the problem. There was no sign of Loc-Tite or any other thread locker in the threads I dug out. Either way this stud was never going to turn again without some serious heat and I think that kind of heat would have ruined the head.

Good Job!  It is nice when a plan work out and has a happy ending.

I agree with CarnivalofRust....left hand drill bits work well when the bolt/stud has broken off from being overtightened or some other reason - but they won't do anything if the bolt/stud broke off from corrosion, cross threading or seizing.....if the thing is so darn tight that it broke the bolt/stud off - it is going to be way too tight for a left hand drill bit to make it budge.

I have had success drilling out broken off bolts in a similar manner, and when you do it right and get the hole right down the center.....you can keep increasing the drill size until you can peel the remaining threads out - and all is well with the world.

There was a time when I was not so lucky, and I did not get the hole right down the center.  I still was able to make it work by drilling with as large or drill as I could without hitting the threads on the close side - then using a Dremel grinder and a stone made for sharpening chain saws.......it is a small diameter and long  stone and works well for grinding ins small spaces, and it can even grind away a broken drill bit or taps.  They do wear rather quickly as they are small, and you may need to use several of them - but they can work if you are careful and go slowly.  Once you have most of the bolt/stud ground away, it can usually be collapsed with a punch/chisel/ice pick and removed.  

I rest my case.

Dave wrote on 08/20/16 at 04:27:13:



A word on drilling this particular bolt straight, The downtube of the frame is in the way slightly, not so much that you can't get the bit straight on through the bolt, but enough that it is easy to nick the frame paint with the chuck on your drill. I put a few wraps of electricians tape around the frame near where the drill needed to run, and yes I bumped it a few times that would have scuffed paint. I didn't have any specialty long bits so I ran the ones I had long in the chuck, leaving about a 1/4" at least in the jaws of the chuck. This helped keep the chuck even farther away from the frame.

For alignment and getting my best guess on the first pilot hole I drilled I used a long bolt threaded into the opposite exhaust bolt hole. Using the long bolt I could easily see if my drill was misaligned in the slightest. I keep my bits sharp and that's critical too, this isn't the time or project to be fighting poor equipment. Dull bits make you strain and wiggle and shake and you will not be drilling a straight hole like that. With a sharp bit, slow speed on the drill, and a steady hand you can get the pilot hole started straight and that is the most critical moment. Once you have drilled a 1/4" or so it is difficult to change direction, so getting it right in that first effort is important. After that you can relax and just let the drill work.

If you get misaligned it's not the end of the world. As you drill your pilot hole it is a good idea to check your progress every 1/4" or so. This helps you keep from making a big mess and also keeps your drill bit nice and cool. Look in the hole with a flashlight and see if you see any threads appearing in the sides of the hole. Usually you can see the bolt/stud threads giving way before you damage the threads of the hole. If you spot threads appearing and you know there's quite a bit more bolt left, you may be able to start at the entrance of the hole with a high misalignment on your drill and walk the hole over away from the threads you found. Usually this is the time to jump up a bit size because trying to get the pilot bit to just scoot over can be nearly impossible.

And the score goes to Kris!