You ever just have one of those days?

[lowbush]

So I got all the gears from Broader for the C4 I picked up, and the powder coating came in so I decided it was time to tear into the the C4 and start powder coating it. I got the truck all set back up for a C4 tranny to go back in it, undoing all the work that was done to stuff a C6 in the truck. Anyways I run a dry fit and realize the passenger header is going to have to come off, no big deal but one more thing. Well then I start to break the tranny down and I naturally start with the bell housing and find that the bolt might as well have been welded on, I don't know what they used on them things or what they torqued them too but they where in there. I shredded two sockets with the impact wrench before I got the bright idea to get a big ass breaker bar and just wrench down on it. Well I get all of them but the last one off, that one decided that it wanted to round off. So now I have a stripped bolt that might as well be welded in as the only thing standing between me and getting this damn bell housing off. I never was any good at getting stripped bolts out. I figure tomorrow I will get the drill out and start drilling out the bolt. We will see if I can get it out without messing up the threads. I was so over it that I just left everything where it was in the garage and walked away. I hope tomorrow is a better day.

 

[bax]

I got a c4 you can have. Just cut/ grind the head of the bolt off. get that bell housing off and then weld a nut to the bolt. The heat may break it loose or you may just get lucky. Took me a week to get lucky a week ago.

 

[Bukin 67]

Yup, definitely been there done that. The best thing to do is walk away and take a break from it.

 

[lowbush]

I got a c4 you can have. Just cut/ grind the head of the bolt off. get that bell housing off and then weld a nut to the bolt. The heat may break it loose or you may just get lucky. Took me a week to get lucky a week ago.

Well I figure I will cut the head off of it, and then try to drill it out of the case, if I end up screwing up the threads on the case, then I figure I will hit the junk yards and find a C5 case, they have better oil plumbing. So its kind of one of those if I mess it up, it will force me to upgrade.

 

[Viperwolf1]

I hope it isn't the one that's hard to get to. You could try to weld a big nut on top the bolt head.

 

[sprdv1]

Have one of those days at least 2-3 times a week brother.. Good luck

 

[Tedster100]

I got a c4 you can have. Just cut/ grind the head of the bolt off. get that bell housing off and then weld a nut to the bolt. The heat may break it loose or you may just get lucky. Took me a week to get lucky a week ago.

x2 on welding a nut on. Weld it on, then spray the base of the bolt with some penetrating fluid and put some ice on the welded nut to cool it faster than the housing. That should help it losen up.

 

[lowbush]

Alright, I am gonna get out there and TIG a 3/4 nut onto the top of it here in a couple minutes and see if I can get it out, it's a new day lets hope it's better than the last.

 

[Bukin 67]

Hope it works for you. Keep us posted

 

[bmc69]

x2 on welding a nut on. .

x3. The ONLY way to extract broken bolts, IMHO. I don't even own an "easy out" because I hate 'em.

 

[bronconut73]

Let us know if you need some "hands on" help brother.

 

[knack]

In a shop I used to work in - about the time I'd be swearing and steaming because a bolt broke off - the boss would tell me to "get a pencil and paper and draw it out."

Probably about as funny to you right now as it was to me then.

Sorry.

 

[lowbush]

Probably about as funny to you right now as it was to me then.

Sorry.

No it's all good, I have an uncanny ability to laugh at myself even in the most stressful of times.

I ended up getting it out, I went up to the store to get a nut that would fit over it to weld on, and as I was walking down the isle it was as if the clouds parted and a beam of light shown down on a tool, and that tool was a socket set by Irwin called Bolt Grip. I figured what the heck, it will sure beat trying to get the tig torch and a filler rod in a 1/2 inch hole. Man those sockets are amazing, I went at that bolt with a 3 ft breaker bar and that socket and when it finally broke free, I had so much torque on it that it threw me down and I tucked and rolled.
That socket never lost it grip, it's also made out of a different alloy then most sockets. The set is a little pricy but I will tell you I will be recommending those things to everyone.


So every bolt in that C4 had red thread locker on it and some moisture made it's way into the tranny, it's all apart now.

 

[helo-mech]

Nice. Glad you got it worked out. I love it when I am walking around in the tool section and a light comes on that means I need to buy more tools. ;D