I Think Bollocks is the word

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 1:43 am

Right then, friendly local mechanic says i need new handbrake shoes to pass the MOT and i trust him that it is past ajustment as he has been looking after it for the last 15 years.

So, whip the back wheels off, take off the caliper and hang from a peice of wire (as per the haynes manual) Put nice shiny spanner on caliper hanger bolt, think 'bugger me this is tight', soak in wd40 for 20 minutes, lean on it again with spanner and TINK, Bollocks, Ouch!

So what do i do now? its taken off the head of the bolt with about 1/4" of the shaft.

Any sugestions?

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 8:50 am

Get the other bolt out and free the caliper off and out of the way. Take the disc off, again get it out the way. Where the caliper bolts enter the trailing arm you will need to grind the stump of what is left of the bolt so it is flush with the arm itself. This can all be done off a jack but you may need to drop the rear damper as well.

When you have ground the old bolt flush, carefully drill a 3mm (or 4mm) hole through the middle of the bolt stump as a pilot hole, then drill it out to 10mm being careful not to wave the drill around too much. To make the drilling process a bit easier you can add some wd40 whilst drilling. It won't take 5 minutes with a couple of decent drill bits and a cordless drill.

If you're a bit of a cabbage with a drill (like me - no offence) then mark the centre of the bolt with a centre punch and hammer before you start to drill.

When you have drilled the majority of it out then re tap the thread with an M10 x 1.5 tap - Halfords on Sunday

Then you're home and dry. Easy really

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:46 am

be prepared to buy some new rear discs whilst you have got it all apart.... the inner drums will be knackered...

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:30 pm

Best way is to get the bolt RED hot and then remove with some mole grips.

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 5:06 pm

Stick a nut over the stub and weld it in place. The heat will loosen the stub and the nut will allow you to unscrew it.

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 5:12 pm

im new,need help

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 5:14 pm

this bit sucks ass

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 8:55 pm

Right i'll try that one in the morning, i Dont have access to a welder or any real heat source so how would you suggest i get the other bolt out without snapping this one as well? Just plenty of penetrating oil?

Bazz - what sucks ass?

Cheers for your help guys

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:10 pm

bazz81 - what's your input on this?

As a newbie i would suggest you post relative comments, that way someone might take you serious when you have a question / comment to make.

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 11:36 pm

It's a tough call. Personally I would get some heat on it and/or go for it with the air gun and to hell with it. I guess the only option you have is to get some WD in to it, wait a while and grit your teeth while you pop the little fella out.

If you haven't got any option then break it off and cope with drilling them out or better still go for Brians method if you can access a welder.

Good luck with it mate....

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 11:42 pm

were you undoing the bolt because caliper hanger bolts are opposite of the direction of the wheel to avoid bolt lossening when driving.
I think tthats right its been a while since i change but remember i was actually tighten them instead of lossening them.

Post Sun Oct 08, 2006 11:45 pm

opposite of the direction

No. They are normally threaded.

Post Mon Oct 09, 2006 9:12 am

Wait, so are they a standard thread?

I'm gonna try and get hold of an impact wrench and go for the all or nothing approach with a blow lamp

But i dont wanna be turning it the wrong wayv

Post Mon Oct 09, 2006 9:15 am

The only two reverses thread I can think of of on an E30 are the viscous fan and one end of the brake pull rod.

Post Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:26 pm

Right i wish i had known that before all this, that must be how i broke it, i was tightening it instead of loosening it

So i heated the other one up, turned it the correct way and now it is off, so i can take the whole hanger to college and drill it out properly with a vice and a pillar drill.

Next question, is there any easy way of getting that f**king disc off? The little grub hex head grub screw thing has been rounded out. I'm not too worried about saving the disc cause as E30Mark says the linings on the drums are probably kinda screwed.

Post Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:42 pm

To make the drilling process a bit easier you can add some wd40 whilst drilling

WD40 is too thin to use for drilling, the heat drives it away from the cutting face and spaying a bit whilst hot can actually put minute cracks in it, clean engine oil is your friend here

As for the snapped bolt, brians method it the same i use, but drown it in plusgas first for good measure

Good luck!

Post Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:46 pm

Plusgas? I'm just gonna clamp it under the piller drill and smear it in cutting compound.

The problem now is the discs.

Post Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:54 pm

Plusgas

Much better than WD40 for releasing seized bolts

Post Mon Oct 09, 2006 9:36 pm

Turn the disc so that the screw is 180 degrees away from where the caliper was, and then give the disc a good hard smack with a lump hammer in an outwards direction. This will shear the head of the screw and remove the disc. Remains of the screw will then normally unscrew easily, but it can be drilled out if necessary.
In any case, the screw is only a luxury for locating the disc while fitting wheel bolts.

Post Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:58 am

Cheers brian, i'll give it a whack.

Then buy some plusgas lol.

The caliper hanger is now boltless so now all i have to do is get the other side apart without breaking it lol