Help! I noticed that there was antifreeze coming out of the front of the block between the block and the head on the passenger side of the car. I decided to replace the head gasket. I ordered one from Lang's that does not require any sealing compound. When I removed the head bolts 2 of them snapped. There is a small part of them sticking out above the engine block. Does anyone have any suggestion for removing these. I'm afraid of making the situation worse. Thank you!

http://modeltengine.com/brokenheadstud.htm

Great suggestion, however I don't have a mig welder.

Not really a big problem, lots of older threads regarding this one, some weld a nut on the stub, some drill them out. If you have access to a welder Tim's method works good. Some people have got the stub red hot with a tourch and applied candle wax. I tried them all and my preference is the Stevens T-200 tool, Lang's and Snyders both sell my reproductions, and I put them on e-bay all the time, you can save a few dollars that way.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/80257/89382.html

Remove head, hit bolt 3 times with large hammer, tightly clamp a vice grip to the bolt and try to turn. I got lucky and this worked for me. It is worth a try.

Steven

Me with a large hammer on an antique car? I already broke 2 bolts, I would be afraid of the next post I would have to do after I broke something else. Thank you for the comment, but I would be a little concerned about that one. Thank you though.

How much of the bolt is sticking above the engine block? Is it enough to do as Steven said? Spray some rust penetrate around the bolts and let it sit overnight. Then do as Steven said. Or get ready to drill and use an extractor.

Willis

I too was skeptical when this was recommended to me some decades ago. It rarely works, but you have a very slim chance of any further damage if you hit the bolt directly on the top, and let me tell you. Have it work just one time, saving you a bunch of money or time and you too will believe.

Someone once told me it would start easier to start the car if I jacked up the rear wheel. I was skeptical about that one until I tried it. It worked. I will try the hammer on the bolt (after soaking with rust penetrate) There is just enough bolt sticking up to get vice grips on it. Thank you!

Jim,
You have no profile, there may be someone near you that can help you out but they will not know where you live, are you in the witness protecction plan?

Gas weld with brass, mig weld, arc weld. The point is to stick the nut to it and send some serious heat down the "stump".

I need to create a profile. I live in Atlanta, Georgia.

I agree with Tim with the following exception, do not use brass rod. In order for it to work you will either have to use flux or a rod that already has it and it will then stick to cast iron (which you do not want). If you have an oxy/accetylne torch you can still gas weld it but use a mild steel filler rod (coat hangers work).

I like the arc method here the best as my MIG welder is a 110V that doesn't create enough heat for my taste. It is usefull for sheet metal but that is about it.

If you decide to drill it, be careful that you don't go past the end of the bolt and through the casting into the water jacket.

Good advice, I'm thinking of soaking it in liquid wrench, tapping it with a hammer, soaking it in liquid wrench then trying vice grips,and if that doesnt work, drill extract and being carefull not to go to far. Sounds like I'm not the only one who has had this problem.

There is a special tool that wraps around the bolt shank and pinches it sort of like vice grips do. It has a hex head and you can put a hefty wrench on it. But you must heat the bolt and put the penetrating lube into it or else you will simply break it again farther down.

There is also a cap the fits over the broken bolt and that cap has a pilot hole in it so you can drill on center and step the drills up in size until you can get the easy out in the hole.

Jim, if you use heat of any kind, let it cool completly before trying to turn the bolt. Also, start very slowly, just try to get the bolt to wiggle. Don't try to unscrew it all at once. Once it is loose, keep it well lubed with penetrating oil, not WD40, and keep working it back and forth until you can make a full turn. It should come out pretty easily then. If it starts getting harder to turn, back up. The trick is to get the lube worked down into the threads to loosen the rust, don't get in a hurry. Hope this helps. Dave

Very good advice Dave. I like that approach.

If you heat the bolt, it seems to me that would expand the bolt in the hole, making it even tighter.  Since we know that heating expands  steel, wouldn't it make more sense to try and heat just the block around the bolt, thereby expanding the block steel around the bolt?  If you could do this, and then quickly try and loosen the bolt with vice grips before the heat made its' way to the bolt, it may come loose.  Of course it wouldn't hurt to spray some PB Blaster around the threads, letting it penetrate all night before trying this. 

I'm not sure about the physical properties of steel surrounding this method, but after reading what I wrote and analyzing it in my mind, I began to wonder if the expanding block steel would expand the steel toward the bolt shank making the hole smaller and tighter on the bolt, or would the hole size expand, making the hole bigger? Jim Patrick

Heating the bolt will work if you let it cool completely before trying to turn it. The expansion and contraction might just cause the threads to loosen a bit.
If you use an "easy out" be very careful not to break it off. It is much harder than the original bolt and will be very hard to drill out. The easy outs are tapered and my experience is that they just make the bolt tighter. It was already so tight that it broke rather than turn.
Norm

Norm, you are right. Easy outs are anything but.
Jim, the main idea in heating the bolt, and or the area surrounding it, is to break down the rust. The bolt and the area around it will most likely expand at different rates anyway, which is of course, a plus. Even if you weld a nut onto the bolt, it helps considerably to preheat everything. Then it breaks down the rust even better. DON'T try to take it out hot, there is a good chance that the threads will come out with the bolt. Let everything cool and take your time. I've been doing this stuff for forty five years and this method works the best for me. Dave

Is an "easy out" a bolt extractor? I have broken bolt extractors before and that is why I came to this forum for advice. I was concerned of making a bad situation worse.

yes, Jim, an "easy out" is one of many types of bolt extractors. I've seen them as square tapered shafts and reverse threaded shafts to drive into the hole and then put a wrench on. they are all harder than the bolt. They often will wedge in the bolt and can expand it to make the removal tougher. if they break off, they are very hard to drill out. I've ruined several stuck bolt holes in the past with them. I still have some in my tool box, but shudder if I have to use one. the above ideas are much better. Thank you, gentlemen.

One more idea for you , if you have enough room cut a good slot in the top of the bolt so you can use a good heavy straight screw driver , have someone tap on the handle with a hammer as you turn I have had very good luck with this method . And heating the block could cause cracks in the cast.

I was thinking of cutting a slot in the bolt with the Drummel. The 2 bolts in question are sticking out of the block about a 1/4 inch. I tried vice grips with penetrating oil and tapping with a hammer and they weren't budging. The vice grips kept slipping off. (maybe too much pentetrating oil?) I'm about to use the dreaded bolt extractor.

If you can grind or cut a slot in the remaining piece it should come out easily with an impact driver and slotted bit. Don't hit it too hard. I find a small hammer most effective.

Jim,
For the situation you describe with no access to a torch or a welder, I would recommend the Stevens T-200 tool to carfully drill it out with a hand drill. An easy out or bolt extractor is risky because if it breaks in the bolt which they do, you are really stuck since the easy out is too hard to drill out. Also free hand drilling the hole for the easy out is likley to go off center and crooked which may cut into the threads in your block. Contact me off line with a private message, I would be willing to loan you one of my repro T-200 tools with a deposit or some strings attached.

Jim, sounds like you need to take Jeff up on his offer. If a bolt has twisted off it is not likely to come out with vise grips or a screwdriver. Dave

Jeff I sent you an e-mail, thanks for your help. I have cut a slot and used a lot of oil penetrant let it soak since Saturday and the bolt show no signs of movement. I'm hoping the T-200 is the answer

Jim,

Heating the block would tend to make the hole bigger, not smaller, but I would still recommend heating the bolt instead. It's like David said. It's the different rates of expansion that does the trick. I once tried to get the field pole bolts out of a generator or a starter. Don't recall which now. At any rate, they weren't coming. I had tried an impact screwdriver. Still no luck. Since I was replacing the windings anyway, I figured I had nothing to loose by trying heat. I heated the bolts until they were starting to turn red. I let them cool naturally. Then I went to put the impact screwdriver on there again. Just as I started to preload the driver and get ready to hit it, the thing turned out by hand! All four of them did the same thing. I know it sounds backwards to heat the bolt. It does indeed make the bolt expand, but when it cools.....

The theory behind hitting it with a hammer is it shocks the threads and breaks the rust free. When you heat it with a torch you should heat the block and the bolt, but you dont want to get the block cherry red or anything but some heat. When you apply heat the bolt and the block expand at different rates and also cool at different rates hence forth breaking the rust free. Sometimes you need to apply heat for than once.

I bought a T-200 tool from Jeff. IT WORKS GREAT!! I highly recommend it. I had to get a little creative because one of the bolts was on the back of the engine below the cowl and I could not get the drill in that area. BUT for the bolt in the front of the engine it was a life saver!

Jim,
What did you have to do for the rear bolt?

I took the head off, and used the bit with out the t-200. I damaged the top of the hole slightly but was able to use the tap to fix the threads. I'm not sure there would be any other way to do this. I went to a hardware store looking for any kind of accessory for my drill and there was nothing available. The items that bend don't take drill bits.