luvmylegacy98 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 what would be the easiest way to fix this? i broke the head off the bolt that holds the ball joint in. the car is so rusty its impossible to get anything done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAC5.2 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Buy a new knuckle or try drilling the bolt and using an extractor. [URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/proper-flip-key-interesti-159894.html"]Flip Key Development Thread[/URL] "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." - E. Hubbard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dease42 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Had the same thing happen on my 05.. after 3 days of drilling (and 3 broken drill bits - I need a better tool set) it was finally bored through, tapped the threads, and put a new bolt in... good as new. It's not hard, but definitely some elbow grease involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TbirdMan Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 this happened to my ole impreza, after a couple hours of drilling i broke a hardened steel extractor off in the hole. while trying to get it you with brute force, I snapped one of the "ears" of the knuckle off. long story short, new knuckle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off Road SHO Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 This just happened to John's 96 Legacy, sort of. The bolt head was so rounded off from trying to break the rust bond that nothing would grip the head. We ended up removing the knuckle and clamping it in a vise so that he could grind away some of the rust. Then I welded a big nut to the old head by welding through the hole of the nut. Took a big breaker bar to it after it cooled and worked the bolt back and forth while dousing it with PB Blaster. Finally got it out and then ran a tap through it to clean up the threads. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosAngelesLGT Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 This thread makes me appreciate southern California. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Donated broknindarkagain Posted February 22, 2012 I Donated Share Posted February 22, 2012 This just happened to John's 96 Legacy, sort of. The bolt head was so rounded off from trying to break the rust bond that nothing would grip the head. We ended up removing the knuckle and clamping it in a vise so that he could grind away some of the rust. Then I welded a big nut to the old head by welding through the hole of the nut. Took a big breaker bar to it after it cooled and worked the bolt back and forth while dousing it with PB Blaster. Finally got it out and then ran a tap through it to clean up the threads. Tom Yeah...it was a nightmare lol -broknindarkagain My Current Project - Click Here COME AND TAKE IT "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvmylegacy98 Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 okay, so what size drill bit am i looking at to get this drilled out? the car still drives fine, aside from other various noises, so i'll be going to the parts store today to spend all my money. and how do i "tap" the threads? sorry if thats kind of a stupid question but i've never had this big of a problem when it comes to rusty bolts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dease42 Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 "Tap" the threads is to use a tap & die set to re-thread the knuckle. Honestly, all I used it for was to clean out the crap after drilling. Don't remember the bit size off the top of my head, but it was SMALLER then the bolt. I didn't want to try to actually re-thread the cast iron knuckle, so I drilled smaller than the bolt, and use the tap to clean out the threads. If you can get an extractor in, and get it to turn, it will be easier.. but if the extractor breaks, you're hosed.. no drilling through that. I'll check the thread tonight when I get home, and if no one else chimes in, I'll check the size of the bit(s) I used (advice: buy extras). EDIT: fwiw, 5/16" was the primary bit I used, mixed with a smaller one for accuracy. - I'm not necessarily recommending this.. it was a PITA, and I think I got lucky not damaging (read:cracking) the cast knuckle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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