Steve Straus

I broke a head off of a seat hinge screw when I was taking one of my seats apart to re-cover it. I attempted to remove the rest with an EZ-out and snapped it off in the screw. It's the first time I've ever done that. I've been trying to drill through the EZ-out with titanium and colbalt drill bits. They just kind of seem to spin there, it's almost impossible to get through it. There is nothing there for me to grab with a pair of pliars, and I can't get at it with a drill from the other side. I need to get this screw out without increasing the hole size. The hinge screws are special screws, so I need to retain this thread size.

Any ideas? I feel so screwed.

R1234

Steve, samething happened to me, I took my seat frame to work and the machine shop got it out. I used an impact screw driver to get the rest of my screws out of the frames.

Frank75

EZ outs are pretty hard and I think they might have to be "burnt" out (EDM or electro discharge machining, like reverse welding.)

I'm not familiar with the spot you're referring to on the seat frame: can you drill around the ez out with a small hole saw, then weld in a nut? Or use a heli-coil?

I don't know what material they're made of: I wonder if heating with a torch would anneal and soften it so it could be drilled?
:confused:

Edzred72

I've had luck with a diamond tip drill bit...it cut through the ez-out slowly, but drilled it out...Whew!! They are expensive.... but worked for me!! :smash:

0Mike69@ECS

I cant say I have any Ideas but I feel your Pain! Been there recently myself! :( :cry

UKPaul

Ouch,
They are total Bar Stewards to remove. The only guaranteed way I know of is to have them spark eroded out, but you'd need the part off of the car & if it was, then you wouldn't have the problem. Is there enough "meat around the hole to make a series of small holes (carefully without breaking the drill bit in there, causing even more problems)? If there is then you can drill all around the thread & go up in drill size until the holes join so that the whole lot comes out (if you follow what I mean!). Then you run a large drill bit through the mess to clean it up, cut a convenient thread & then wind in a piece of bolt/whatever of the same thread, with a hole drilled concentrically & taped out at the original thread size (like a Timesert, the things you use when helicoils have been stripped!). Phew. But you do need to have enough metal around it to do this.
If not, or it's just too much effort, then spend out on a diamond tipped drill & carefully drill out the EZ out. Whatever you do, stay :cool: It's surprising how much more agro you can cause yourself if you go ballistic!
(I've seen a guy remove a broken EZout by making use of the fact that it is brittle - he just used a punch & large hammer to shatter it bit by bit by beating hell out of it. I wouldn't recommend this method though).
Good luck

TerryN68

As UKPaul stated they are very brittle. I've had success with the shatter method by freezing the easyout with a CO2 fire extinguisher and then hitting with a pin punch. The obvious safty hazard of using CO2 in a confined area must be considered.

T

Milest

I don't know if this is possible but in times past I have ground/cut a slot into the head of the stud (or easy-out) and used a flat screwdriver to remove.

Good Luck

jvm

I would try the srew driver slot trick if there is enough to get at. use a cut off blade in a dremal tool. I have also used soild carbide drills to get screws out when they were hard. Just go easy, put some Kroil on it also.

vert2go89

If you can get a pointed tool of some kind and knock on the easy out with the pressure so to turn the easy out the opposite way it is used then you can sometimes get the easy out out.Drilling is almost impossible since the easy out is hard tensil steel.I have seen etchers used to get things out as the vibration of the etcher will loosen it and let it start to turn also.Again go opposite direction of the easy out to get it out.An easy out tightens to the left turn so go right turn.

Zack Wenning

Same thing happened to me a couple weeks ago. Luckily my brother works in a machine shop. Thank God!! HE took care of it in a few minutes. DO you know anyone who works in a tool/machine shop? Good luck.

jvm

I have also used carbide burs in dermel tools to get screws out. If nothing else drill a hole in it with the carbide bit and break it out with a chisle

jeff batchelor

If you have access to an air compressor get a die grinder and some small stones or carbide burr ball and grind it out. The die grinder is much more powerful than a dremmal tool.
Jeff

Steve Straus

Thanks for the replies everyone.

All of the drilling has fused the screw and the ez-out into one unit. The tapping and slotting methods won't work, I did try slotting it before I drilled though.

I'll call a few machine shops around here and see what they can do.

The nut plate is a rectangle 1" by 1.5" steel plate that's welded in, so burning it off would be somwhat of a challenge.

I'll call a few machine shops around here and see what they can do.

Frank75

Steve - can you grind the welds off the nut plate? Might be easier than dragging that whole frame around...

Steve Straus

I was thinking about that last night. I'm going to go buy a die grinder today.

Hey, at least I have an excuse to buy a new air tool now :D

Steve Straus

Okay, I spent 100 bucks today and bought a cut-off tool and a die grinder (woohoo, new air tools!!) and got the plate cut out. I'm just going to try and use a nylon insert nut with a lock washer. I figure if it doesn't work out (which I cant see why it wouldn't) I can always take it out and weld a plate in.

Thank god for air tools.