1971CorvetteII

I have a broken bolt on my intake manifold. It is the bolt that holds the thermostat cover in place. My boyfriend broke it while he was trying to take it off --a lot of help he was (I think am not going to let him work on my car anymore).

Anyone have any good solutions for removing the broken bolt other than taking the intake off and having a machine shop [a good machinist] fix it for me correctly?

And also how can I tell my boyfriend that I really don't want his "mechanical help" anymore. It is causing me more grief than I planned.

He also mentioned that he does not think I need the thermostat??? He says he knows it all, but after this event I am seriously wondering....

SIXFOOTER

I have fixed a couple of them with the intake in place. I used a Transfer punch to locate the center of the bolt through the hole in the T-Stat cover after gring the bolt off flush with the intake. Then step drill and tap. Be sure and cover everything to kee shavings out.
Not the prefered method, but doable

HOOAH

This task has some variables with regards to how to take care of it. Depends upon where the bolt broke off (i.e. flush with the manifold or if you have some part of the bolt protruding from the intake surface. If flush (depending upon your mechanical abilities), the remainder of the bolt can be drilled and extracted with a tool referred to as an easy-out. If there is some portion of the bolt protruding from the manifold, you may be able to latch onto it with a vise-grip pliers however the success of that operation will also depend upon how corroded in the threads it really is. The other issue we commonly face is if you have a stock manifold or an aluminum style. Aluminum can be damaged failrly easy due to it being a softer metal. Regardless of which type, soak the remaining part of the bolt good with PB Blaster or similar solution to help break up the corrosion first.

Not really much help but this is the way I would attack it initially anyway.

As far as how to break it to your boyfriend...........too touchy for me to comment on.

Good Luck

Terry

my 76 ray

The really key thing here is to deal with the corrosion before attempting to use an easy out or vise grips. If the bolt was rusted in well enough to break the bolt, then it will break the easy out as well because the easy out is always smaller in diameter than the bolt.

Don't be too hard on the boyfriend. Anyone who has worked on cars a lot has broken bolts. They rust and it happens. It probably would have broken if a mechanic tried to remove it.

Then again, if he really thinks he knows everything ....

garage-ghost

Tele_Man

I agree with all the advice given above. The only thing I can add is to check out your local Sears store. Talk to someone in the tools department. I'm pretty sure they sell a kit for extracting bolts in these types of situations.

Keep the Vette, dump the boyfriend.

oldC3guy

I had the exact same problem with my '78. Mine was sheared off right at the intake manifold with nothing left sticking out. I tried easy outs, a ton of PB Blaster, and even some "freeze" stuff. It was recommended that someone weld another piece of metal to the top of the sheared off bolt but I never could get somebody to come to the house to do it (the car was not driveable at this moment since the thermostat housing is loose right??). I finally gave up and bought a new intake manifold. However, I think it would be possible to take the manifold off and take it to a machine shop as you suggested. I have concluded that the bolt was not just rusted/corroded but rather seized and that there was no way that I was ever going to actually extract it. Therefore, if I hadn't bought a different manifold, I would have had to take it to a machine shop and see if they could put an insert in it. The other lesson I learned on these old bolts is to take it very easy and if there seems to be resistance, stop, soak with Blaster, wait, and go back later. I was able to get the hesitant intake manifold bolts out without event using this method. So, I feel your pain and good luck with it. Let us know what you finally do and the outcome.

...Roger...

I agree ,don't be too hard on the boyfriend,the 2 thermostat bolts are very common ones to be corroded and without the right touch will break.
Give him another chance and tell him to be more careful and if you'll post up what your working on next we might be able to warn you about problems you might run in to.

Steve~74

I did this to one of my valve cover bolts......I used the easy-out method and the bolt was out in a matter of minutes. Like stated above, soak it with some sort of penetrating oil first. All the big box home improvement centers have these. Just tell the guy in the tool dept. you broke a bolt, he'll know what you need.

Good Luck

itsabigblock

this guy has the right idea,that is to carefully weld a nut on top of the broken bolt and soak the s--t out of it and you should be good to go.I did this on my mustang when I tried to take the brake calipers off to change the brake pads work like a charm.

Faster Rat

All good advice. You need to decide how confident you are in your own abilities and how adventurous you care to be with your money. Whether you pay an expert or do it yourself, you will definitely learn how to solve the problem. Time and money is all that it takes.

Tell your boyfriend that educated engineers designed the cooling system to function with a thermostat...it is there for a reason. Your car will NOT run cooler or better without it. Replace with one that has the opening temperature rating specified by the factory, probably 180 to 185 degrees.

rugerm44

I wouldn't run one without a thermostat unless it was stuck close.I would do it to get home with it.

chucks

Start with a small drill and increase the size untill you get to the drill size for the tap. At that point the threads may collapse and you can dig it out with a awl or carefully try the tap. What ever you do do not use a easy out. It will not remove the bolt and if you break it you have a real problem on your hands.

croaker

Throw back the Perch and catch a Bass

STINGRAY1WORD

I have had good luck just using a left handed drill bit. Make sure the drill is in reverse it helps alot.

HerFirstVette

Just curious.....did you used to own a Jeep?

kydirt

Sometimes you can use a small chisel to try to hammer the bolt in the right direction. The welding method will work probably 99% of the time. The heat from welding seems to break the seize. The way to do it is to weld a flat washer (a little smaller than the bolt) to the bolt, then you weld a nut ( in this case probably a 3/8 )on the washer). After this you can work it out with a wrench. Done this many times and I'm no expert welder.

kdf1986

Now thats funny if you remember the Jeep thread. Thanks for the laugh.

kdf

Skip Burney

You didn`t say if it had broken off flush with the intake or not. Take the other bolt out and take off the thermostat neck, if there is enough to grab with vise grips use some PB blaster on it and take the vise grips and try to gently rock the bolt both ways, tighter and looser just rock it back and forth. If it is flush with the intake then take a small drill and drill a pilot hole but be careful NOT to break the drill bit, if you do that it`s all over. Drill it out as large as you can without ruining the threads. Then get a small straight chisel with flats on the sides of it. Make sure it is small enough to start down into the hole you drilled and take a small hammer and tap it down into the hole till it`s good and tight. Then take a pair of vise grips and hold the chisel and back the bolt out by turning the chisel.

Acro74

ROFLMAO