Heat and quench to remove frozen bolts

[Elderberry]

,

I have neglected my 56 Chevy for too long(since 2010) and have been slowly getting it road ready. Two days ago I got around to brakes. No pedal at all. I had already jacked up all four corners and removed the wheels, so everything was fairly easy to get to. First brake bleeder, in the rear, did not want to come out. Buggered it up. Tried vice grips, tapping, penetrating oil, more tapping. No joy. Went to the other rear and it came out. So I went to the front and snapped it in two. Went to the last one and it didn't budge. I gave up and researched different techniques. Many of them called for time I don't have patience for.

And then I read about a way I've never heard of. Heat the stuck item(bolt, stud, bleeder,etc)  directly to a red heat and then quickly quench with water.

And it worked for me.

You could probably use a propane torch with a pencil tip, but since I had an aircraft oxyacetylene torch(Victor Jr) that's what I used. I had picked up the torch back when I was taking a jewelry making course in college.

I started out with a #00 tip but quickly found out it was too small and changed to a #1. For the quench I cleaned out the pump up sprayer and put a bunch of ice and water into it.
On both the frozen bleeders, not the snapped one, I had to do two heat and quenches, with a cool down period, and a try to turn it out,each time, before they came out.  Since the snapped off bleeder had a hole in its center, I changed back to the #00 tip and directed the flame into the hole and around to evenly get it glowing. After the quench and it had cooled down,I hammered a torx nut driver insert into it to turn it. It also took two heat and quenches to free it up.

I got 'em all out, so I thought I'd let y'all know.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I bought this:

https://www.amazon.com/Damaged-Extractor-70016-Removes-Rounded/dp/B01GKEBG9I



No more stripped bolts. Although be careful, you can actually break a bolt completely off. Don't ask me how I know... 

[Elderberry]

The worst bolts to remove for me have been the exhaust donut bolts. I have been known to break the bolts and then use c-clamps in place of the bolts.

Next have been the rounded over by rust heads of the exhaust manifold bolts. If they give me the least bit of grief, I weld on a sacrificial socket onto the bolt head.

[Forum member]

If those bolts are doing something important, you've completely changed their hardness and strength after the heat and quench and should replace them with factory spec bolts again. If they are holding the belt guard on the mower deck, reuse them no problem.

[EC]

Exhaust manifold studs have been my particular cross - if I need replace a manifold, I'll usually mangle at least one stud getting the old manifold off. Heat, quench with a nice spray of penetrating oil, then heat again and they come out. Replace them with new, of course.

Mate of mine swears by quenching with pipe freeze. He claims that you don't need to re-heat - the thermal shock is great enough the first time to break the rust bond.

[Elderberry]

If those bolts are doing something important, you've completely changed their hardness and strength after the heat and quench and should replace them with factory spec bolts again. If they are holding the belt guard on the mower deck, reuse them no problem.

Exactly. It all depends on the use of the fastener.

Reminds me, years ago, I was replacing the flexplate in my son's 454. He had a shop install a crate engine and the shop had reused his original flexplate. The original engine was internally balanced. The crate engine was externally balanced. My son mentioned to me that afterward, he noticed a vibration. No fooling. I went to about 5 auto parts and speed shops to get new torgue converter bolts. All of the bolts I found were on blister packed cards. And all of them said Made in China. I will Not trust Any Grade8 bolt from China. No Sir. I ended up ordering a whole box of 50 Rockford Grade8 bolts from McMaster for cheaper than they wanted 3 Chinese bolts from the auto parts.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

In the northeast any bolt in or around the wheel well will be basically rusted frozen. A good reason I always take my cars in for stuff like that.

[Elderberry]

Mate of mine swears by quenching with pipe freeze. He claims that you don't need to re-heat - the thermal shock is great enough the first time to break the rust bond.

Reminds me of car thieves who would steal wheels by freezing the wheel studs with CO2. Then one hit with a hammer would snap the lug off.

[roamer_1]

The worst bolts to remove for me have been the exhaust donut bolts. I have been known to break the bolts and then use c-clamps in place of the bolts.

Replace the studs, never-seize, and use brass nuts this time. They make a kit, with brass nuts about 3x as long as a standard nut. Works a charm. Never a problem thereafter.

[roamer_1]

Heat-wrench is always the last option, and even though it works fantastically where cast iron and steel posts are concerned, one often ruins the inner works in order to make it happen - Slave cylinders as an instance, the heat will melt all the rubber, and can fuse the aluminum piston to the bore.

Some times you have no other option, but it should be the last option.

1/2 part brake fluid to 1/2 part ATF is a magnificent rust eating and penetrating oil, providing there is no paint to worry about. Leaf-spring u-bolts as a good example... clean it up as best you can with a wire brush, squirt that magic on there, get it good and wet... come back an hr later and do it again, then go home and go to bed. Tomorrow, a 1/2" pneumatic gun will rattle em right off.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Heat-wrench is always the last option, and even though it works fantastically where cast iron and steel posts are concerned, one often ruins the inner works in order to make it happen - Slave cylinders as an instance, the heat will melt all the rubber, and can fuse the aluminum piston to the bore.

Some times you have no other option, but it should be the last option.

1/2 part brake fluid to 1/2 part ATF is a magnificent rust eating and penetrating oil, providing there is no paint to worry about. Leaf-spring u-bolts as a good example... clean it up as best you can with a wire brush, squirt that magic on there, get it good and wet... come back an hr later and do it again, then go home and go to bed. Tomorrow, a 1/2" pneumatic gun will rattle em right off.

They (some website) had a rating of penetrating oil and 1/2 ATF and acetone was the best rated if I remember correctly.

[roamer_1]

They (some website) had a rating of penetrating oil and 1/2 ATF and acetone was the best rated if I remember correctly.

Diesel/Kerosene works really good too, but better for soaking parts once they are off the rig... Anything without electric or paint goes right in the bucket for a month or two when I am restoring something... before it ever gets torn apart. That diesel gets into everything.