As you can probably tell, not a good weekend.....

Cylinder head off the car (good) all but 1 stud came out of the block without shearing (not so good), and this is where you will cringe...

In an attempt to remove said stud i ground the nub down to block level, drilled a whole and inserted an easy-out, yep you guessed it, now have a sheared easy-out inside a sheared off stud
DAMN!

Talked to my local machine shop and they will not touch it, however i was told of a local shop that has something called an MDM machine (Metal Disintegration Machine) that "might" be able to blast the easy-out and stud out and all i need to do is chase the threads out and voila!....

What seemed like a simple head gasket change has now turned into an engine strip down and re-build. Worst case i will need a new block and possibly have to machine it to accept new pistons and re-ground crank depending on the condition.

Let's see how this turns out....

 

Sorry to hear that. If I was in your position I'd be looking for a replacement engine or a rusted out donor vehicle. 'Round here there are many for sale for 900 to 2000 dollars. Find one in a particular bad cosmetic condition that still runs well and do an engine swap. You can quickly get your vehicle back on the road and should be able to recoup 10% of the spend in scrappage.

 

BUGGA.

Them Easi-Outs are a dangerous thing when they snap.

There was a mob here that had a Magnetic stand that clamped onto teh block, and he had various LONG drill bits, and was very popular. Did a few for me over the years. He also, would not touch a broken Easi-Out.

Good luck.

 

One thing old age has taught me is that there is no such thing as a simple job. When an apparently simple job goes well, I am most pleased and treat that as a bonus :-)

Once you are opening up an engine there are too many unknown unknowns to ever be considered simple, for me anyway as I am a bear of limited ability.

I hope you can get over this hurdle with some specialised help and continue on as planned.

 

What a bummer...best of luck!

 

I thought I had a bad weekend until I read about yours. At least mine was an easy fix on Monday.
Good luck.

 

I've done that a few times. SUCKS!!! there is a tool to remove a broken easy out. I believe it's called an easy out extractor. Expensive but better than a machine shop. I once took a small punch and literally broke tiny pieces off till it was out. That was not fun but worked after several hours of tedious work.
Good luck with your issue....

 

Long ago, I took an oath, "never even get near an EZY out". My talented machinist/fabricator son shares my sentiments.


Sorry for the sermon, after the fact???


Yeah, the disintegration process has a fighting chance.


I do have another suggestion. But, untested in my lexicon in this situation.
The "EZY Outs" are very hard. Good for the task sorta, but disaster as that means they are brittle. So annealing is a means of "softening" hard metal. Apply heat.
it might be heat, drill in "layers".


Access is an issue, though, huh???


Toss the thing and find a better engine or core to work on...


Carl

 

Just to toss something out.....in the hope of accidentally being of useful.....

Some of the studs can be reached via the freeze plug holes in the side of the block.

The idea of a good used engine has lots of merit, IMHO.

If the car is nice enough, and you like it enough, perhaps a rebuilt engine from Coventry West might be considered? About $4000, I think.


Cheers
DD

 

Get someone with a TIG welder and weld a nut to the top of what is left of stud. Use mild heat (heat gun) and warm block after soaking stud with penetrating oil. Get a air rachet and work it out, soaking, heat, and rachet. Air rachet cycles the unfastening whereas the use of the arm is solid and can snap it off.

 

I do not like to toss things. Not do good in some things, better in others.


Wrestled too long with water heater.... Now junked and replaced with a tankless unit.


Air rachet or air impact? Huge difference.


Carl

 

If I had known in 2001, that CW could provide a rebuilt 4.2, my car just might have gotten one. I did no know that. Local price twice that!!!!


Would TIG weld mild steel to the hardened steel of an "EZYOUT"


I don't know????


Carl
X

 

Thankfully i am the sort of person to sit back for a short time and consider all options. I have a lead on a used block for a very good price, the problem, it's the other side of the country and being heavy will cost $$$ to ship it to me.

In terms of welding something to what is left, that's not possible as everything is broken off flush with the block material.

Still waiting for a call back from the guy with the MDM machine so that is my preferred first choice, i am expecting to be relieved of approx $300 for the work at the very least.

A rebuilt engine sounds great and yes i love the car, even with all of it's issues but $$ are tight so re-building myself over a period of time is going to be easier on the wallet, also i will gain a certain amount of enjoyment from such a task.

I have a bright outlook on this so am not ready to jack it in, there are plenty of options out there so it's easily fixable...

i will keep all up to date with my progress..

There is a little positive in all of this...

I need to change out the flexplate and have been waiting for an excuse to remove the engine, also the engine bay needs some paintwork so i can fix this, plus a few other things that can be checked off the "to do" list.

Russell

 

Some positive news, i have been quoted about $200 for having the stud removed using EDM, about an hours work and at present seems to be the least expensive option. Apparently the process is fine enough that they will blast around the minor diameter of the stud and the remaining thread will just pull out like a coil leaving the original thread inside the block.

Sounds very good to me, just hope it works..

 

Good news and useful to know about, thanks for sharing the info. Hope it does the business.

 

It's not entirely clear where the stud snapped off, but they usually corrode just above where they screw into the block at the bottom of the coolant jacket.

As Doug says, you can remove the core plug by the bottom of the stud to look and see what is left; have you done this ? Sometimes it is possible to turn the stub using a small punch via the core plug hole. However, at the Classic Car Show in Birmingham last weekend, somebody told me it was possible to tap the hole at the top of the block and put in a short stud. I have never seen this, though.

 

Fraser

It is broken off right at the block level, what stub remained was ground flat to try an easy-out, which in turn broke off. I have removed the core plug for access as you state and have run out of "DIY" fixes. I am putting this on the back burner for now but will in the new year strip the block and send it out to have the stud removed using EDM.