Broke a Fairing bolt need advice
- Thread starter kevin8105
- Start date
Not taking my bike to a shop is not an attitude, its a preference. One thing I enjoy about doing everything myself (sometimes with the advice from others) is that I learn from life experiences and do not rely on always having to have someone else do something for me. My decision to force a bolt (whos only purpose in life is to hold a piece of plastic) is not a reflection of my mechanical abilities. As I stated before, I made a bad decision and knew while doing it that the outcome probably wouldn't be good, but also wouldnt be the end of the world. I took a chance and the outcome was as I expected. I find it interesting that a few people on this forum would rather insult my intelligence/abilities than offer advice as was requested in my first post.
I will take the advice of those understanding the situation and attempt to get the bolt tonight and will post results either way. If i muck up the situation any more, I will certainly let you know that my lack of mechanical abilities caused me to further complicate matters so that you can sleep better tonight.
Sorry to jump in like this so late but everyone here that has said carbide bits and the guy working on straight jets are right. I work on C-130 motors that operate at or around 900-1077-1083 degrees Celsius and there is really nothing that will not come unstuck or is unfixable. You can def fix this but be careful. Also, a tip for when you get it done; put ALL of the bolts in by finger first before you tighten. Once you have them all in then you can tighten them all up and the fairing will stay aligned. Good luck man!
At least you know exactly what to do, could be a lot worse. And you can still ride it until you get around to repair!!
My opinion would be that anyone that would come on here and say they have never did anything dumb,stupid or against there better judgement even though they would know the consequences but did it anyway are just a flat out liar.
And that statement isn't meant to be literally as stripping off a fairing bolt, but anything in general.
I've never met a broken off bolt or screw that couldn't be removed, just have some good sharp bits and take your time.
And that statement isn't meant to be literally as stripping off a fairing bolt, but anything in general.
I've never met a broken off bolt or screw that couldn't be removed, just have some good sharp bits and take your time.
I would just like to say that ringing off a bolt is not even close to the stupidest thing I've ever done! Some of the stuff is so embarassing there is no way I'm admitting to it. But I also do all the work on my Busa and she's purring like a kitten. I'll take an idiot who's butt will be in the saddle at 100 mph (that's me) over an idiot in a shop who could care less any day.
A tap set is really handy with the soft aluminum on a bike like this. Sometimes you just have to cleanup the threads.
A tap set is really handy with the soft aluminum on a bike like this. Sometimes you just have to cleanup the threads.
Update:
1) Removed Fairing
2) Drilled a 5/32 hole straight through the middle of the bolt (no problem there)
3) Inserted craftsman bolt out and slowly and cautiously turned it and ..drum roll.. it snapped off!
4) Attempted like a mad man to drill it out again - you cannot drill through a screw out. Period. Tried every drill bit I could find - Cobalt, Depleted Uranium etc.
5) Was able to use a die grinder and grind out the center, which left me with a hole larger than the original at the opening
6) Grabbed a larger bit and drilled a new hole straight through
7) Tapped out new hole (which again is larger than the original)
Done for the night... Tomorrow I will look into finding aluminum rod, same diameter of my newly created bolt hole, thread it with a die and thread into the new hole with some aluminum epoxy for a fresh clean start. I then plan on drilling a hole through this and tapping for the correct size.
Now, i know this could have been a lot easier and probably better fix if I would have taken it to a machine shop and had a professional do it. However, like i said before, I enjoy learning from life and passing on these things to others.
If I could go back and do it again, I would have drilled a larger hole into the original sheered bolt and used a larger exractor which i strongly believe would not have broken off. Once that thing breaks off, you can forget drilling it!
I will let you know how day two goes...
1) Removed Fairing
2) Drilled a 5/32 hole straight through the middle of the bolt (no problem there)
3) Inserted craftsman bolt out and slowly and cautiously turned it and ..drum roll.. it snapped off!
4) Attempted like a mad man to drill it out again - you cannot drill through a screw out. Period. Tried every drill bit I could find - Cobalt, Depleted Uranium etc.
5) Was able to use a die grinder and grind out the center, which left me with a hole larger than the original at the opening
6) Grabbed a larger bit and drilled a new hole straight through
7) Tapped out new hole (which again is larger than the original)
Done for the night... Tomorrow I will look into finding aluminum rod, same diameter of my newly created bolt hole, thread it with a die and thread into the new hole with some aluminum epoxy for a fresh clean start. I then plan on drilling a hole through this and tapping for the correct size.
Now, i know this could have been a lot easier and probably better fix if I would have taken it to a machine shop and had a professional do it. However, like i said before, I enjoy learning from life and passing on these things to others.
If I could go back and do it again, I would have drilled a larger hole into the original sheered bolt and used a larger exractor which i strongly believe would not have broken off. Once that thing breaks off, you can forget drilling it!
I will let you know how day two goes...
My apologies if you took my post as an insult. It certainly wasn't intended to insult your intelligence. You simply made a bad call and it bit you. Lord knows I've had plenty of those in my life time.
I hope you can resolve this unfortunate predicament you got yourself into and it has a happy ending.
Cheers!
My apologies if you took my post as an insult. It certainly wasn't intended to insult your intelligence. You simply made a bad call and it bit you. Lord knows I've had plenty of those in my life time.
I hope you can resolve this unfortunate predicament you got yourself into and it has a happy ending.
Cheers!
Sorry, I took it wrong.. You were certainly right about the bolt out breaking off in the bolt.. There is absolutely nothing you can do when that happens except maybe what I am attemtping to do.. We will see. Have a good night man.
apehog
Registered
For the other guys who snapped their fairing bolt off also...I bought a new one at the dealership..$4.50, I think. I took it down to Autozone and had them measure the diameter..6mm if I remember right. They had a helicoil kit which consisted of a hardened bit, a tap, an insertion tool, and the helicoils. I drilled the bolt out, tapped it, and inserted the 'coil. I haven't had any trouble with it since.
I had tried extracting it earlier but had slipped and gone into the threads. My other option was going to be what you're doing, except instead of using a filler rod, I was toying with the idea of using jb weld! LOL.
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I had tried extracting it earlier but had slipped and gone into the threads. My other option was going to be what you're doing, except instead of using a filler rod, I was toying with the idea of using jb weld! LOL.
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Hindsight is 20/20, but there's no way that bolt was coming out with a standard easyout after being snapped off. I always prefer to drill up to the threads, in small steps near final diameter, to remover as much of the bolt as possible. Sometimes this weakens the bolt enough it can be be gently folded out of the hole. Worse case you remove some of the threads on one side of the hole, in which case the bolt can be picked out. But you would probably still have enough threads for holding the fairing.
Now your next step is a solid fix, but you might consider a couple options first. If you maintained centerline (maybe reinstall the fairing to check) when drilling/grinding out the bolt/easyout you might already be close to the tap diameter for a helicoil. That's a quick and easy fix. Otherwise i would look into a keensert, it's like a fat helicoil. OD-ID is typically 4mm, but they make thin wall versions too. You can buy them online, like McMaster-Carr, or at a specialty machine supply house. If you do go this route I would just remove the little stakes and thread lock in place to allow easy removal should the need arise.
Good luck, hope it all works out.
Now your next step is a solid fix, but you might consider a couple options first. If you maintained centerline (maybe reinstall the fairing to check) when drilling/grinding out the bolt/easyout you might already be close to the tap diameter for a helicoil. That's a quick and easy fix. Otherwise i would look into a keensert, it's like a fat helicoil. OD-ID is typically 4mm, but they make thin wall versions too. You can buy them online, like McMaster-Carr, or at a specialty machine supply house. If you do go this route I would just remove the little stakes and thread lock in place to allow easy removal should the need arise.
Good luck, hope it all works out.
Thanks for the suggestion! The bolt hole came out slightly off center due to the screw out being difficult to remove. It is not far off though as most probably wouldnt even notice it. I definitely considered a heli coil, but have no experience with them. I will have to check into that or the keensert. Thanks again!
Glad you aggree it is a shame that I give him some good advise like take it to someone that does it for a living and I get flamed. But all these others can't seem to understand when to tell someone that they should seek expert advice on a subject.
They tell them stupid suff like this.
"Hindsight is 20/20, but there's no way that bolt was coming out with a standard easyout after being snapped off. I always prefer to drill up to the threads, in small steps near final diameter, to remover as much of the bolt as possible. Sometimes this weakens the bolt enough it can be be gently folded out of the hole. [COLOR="Red"[/B]][B]Worse case you remove some of the threads on one side of the hole, in which case the bolt can be picked out. [COLOR="Red"]But you would probably still have enough threads for holding the fairing[/COLOR].[/COLOR]
For all you idots that can't read and want to flam me please read . And I qoute the originaltor of this post.
"Here comes the stupid part... The last bolt i attempted to put in was the hex bolt in the center of the right fairing. For some reason the bolt would not go in straight, no matter how hard I tried. I made the dumb decision of trying to force it to thread the bolt in cross threaded, believe me, I know this was dumb
All I did was agree with him and that he should seek professional help
"No need to be hateful. The guy asked for help, not brow beating."
Listen guy I gave him much better advice than most of the other guys.
He does not need to mess up his bike listening to people like you.
rothman stated.
I have spent the last 9 years removing incredibly stuck, insanely hard hardware from fighter aircraft and their motors. Screws that have cycled through close to if not more than 1000 degrees hundreds of times.
this is the someone like he should take his bike too. And expert that won't mess his bike up. I'm sure he is allot better at doing this now then he was 9 years ago.
San diego Busa here is some good advice for you.
Call Joe @ 760 741-2673 Racers Machine in Escondito he will fix you right up.
Tell him I sent you.
Hindsight is 20/20, but there's no way that bolt was coming out with a standard easyout after being snapped off.
Well the advice I gave was forsight that says an oz of prevention is worh a pound of cure.
I'm Sorry I gave you such bad advice in seeking out some like Rotman.
Just for future reference, a carbide drill bit will eat through an ez out with a little effort. Problem is that carbide bits are very expensive and not exactly something that most stores would stock.
How big is the hole now? I definitley suggest trying a helicoil before any kind of aluminum home-made solid insert.
How big is the hole now? I definitley suggest trying a helicoil before any kind of aluminum home-made solid insert.
Glad you aggree it is a shame that I give him some good advise like take it to someone that does it for a living and I get flamed. But all these others can't seem to understand when to tell someone that they should seek expert advice on a subject.
They tell them stupid suff like this.
"Hindsight is 20/20, but there's no way that bolt was coming out with a standard easyout after being snapped off. I always prefer to drill up to the threads, in small steps near final diameter, to remover as much of the bolt as possible. Sometimes this weakens the bolt enough it can be be gently folded out of the hole. [COLOR="Red"[/B]][B]Worse case you remove some of the threads on one side of the hole, in which case the bolt can be picked out. [COLOR="Red"]But you would probably still have enough threads for holding the fairing[/COLOR].[/COLOR]
For all you idots that can't read and want to flam me please read . And I qoute the originaltor of this post.
"Here comes the stupid part... The last bolt i attempted to put in was the hex bolt in the center of the right fairing. For some reason the bolt would not go in straight, no matter how hard I tried. I made the dumb decision of trying to force it to thread the bolt in cross threaded, believe me, I know this was dumb
All I did was agree with him and that he should seek professional help
"No need to be hateful. The guy asked for help, not brow beating."
Listen guy I gave him much better advice than most of the other guys.
He does not need to mess up his bike listening to people like you.
rothman stated.
I have spent the last 9 years removing incredibly stuck, insanely hard hardware from fighter aircraft and their motors. Screws that have cycled through close to if not more than 1000 degrees hundreds of times.
this is the someone like he should take his bike too. And expert that won't mess his bike up. I'm sure he is allot better at doing this now then he was 9 years ago.
San diego Busa here is some good advice for you.
Call Joe @ 760 741-2673 Racers Machine in Escondito he will fix you right up.
Tell him I sent you.
Hindsight is 20/20, but there's no way that bolt was coming out with a standard easyout after being snapped off.
Well the advice I gave was forsight that says an oz of prevention is worh a pound of cure.
I'm Sorry I gave you such bad advice in seeking out some like Rotman.
Dude... Learn to use the "Quote" feature. Your post is a mess.
Man its not always the advice you give, but the way you communicated it. I admitted I made a decision that I knew was not an intelligent one. We all do it sometimes. Your suggestion was valid and would most likely be accepted better in the forum when presented without uneccessary insults. Water under the bridge at this point.
I will have to check when I get home. Before persuing the solid aluminum insert, I would like to explore other options. I cant remember off the top of my head what the final bit size was. I will post when I get home, so please check back and let me know if a helicoil would be possible. Thanks!
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