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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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Removing a broken self tapper
I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush
with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? -- *Acupuncture is a jab well done* Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#2
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Removing a broken self tapper
On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:53:51 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote: I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? Angle grinder. -- Frank Erskine |
#3
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Removing a broken self tapper
In article ,
Frank Erskine wrote: I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? Angle grinder. You could at least have modified it for small and made it a Dremel? -- *A woman drove me to drink and I didn't have the decency to thank her Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#4
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Removing a broken self tapper
Frank Erskine
wibbled on Thursday 26 November 2009 10:46 On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:53:51 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote: I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? Angle grinder. I raise you "thermite" -- Tim Watts This space intentionally left blank... |
#5
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Removing a broken self tapper
On Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:53:51 +0000 (GMT), Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? Carefully. ouch Squirt with PlusGas and leave for a day, or a spot of diesel if you have no PlusGas. Then I'd try the one of the JML Screw Removers that Homebase are (were?) selling for £4.99/set. But being self tappers they might be too hard for the remover to cut into to get a grip. -- Cheers Dave. |
#6
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Removing a broken self tapper
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? How small? Axminster do 3mm tungsten burrs which I used when I broke a drill inside a stud I was trying to drill out. AJH |
#7
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Removing a broken self tapper
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? Proper self tappers will be too hard to drill out. Grinding is a possibility with a high speed (air) die grinder. If you can support nearby from behind with something like a heavy lump of metal eg club hammer head, you might be able to punch it through. One or more small holes drilled close by in the panel might aid the punching process. Not nice or easy which ever way you choose. Bob |
#8
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Removing a broken self tapper
On Nov 26, 9:53*am, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote: I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? Cobalt drill bit NT |
#9
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Removing a broken self tapper
On 26 Nov, 09:53, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Angle grinder, make them flat & flush, leave the wreckage in place. Ideally move the new fastener location sideways to dodge the mess. |
#10
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Removing a broken self tapper
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? To do this, you will need two things. An extreamly hard drill and some means of stopping the twist drill from going off the centre of the self tapper and through the softer metal around it. The twist drill could have to be a solid tungsten carbide one (or possibly a C 1150 or D 200, but I have hit a brick wall in finding a source of them. They are considerably harder than a cobalt drill.) and the only way you can prevent it taking the easy way through the softer body metal is to use a hardened bush that can be clamped onto the body metal, to guide it through the screw. Unless you are very adept at making the drill stay on course. An alternative, but maybe expensive way, would be to find someone who can electrically erode it, by spark erosion. Good luck. If it was a local job, I would get out my hard drills and do it for you. Dave |
#11
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Removing a broken self tapper
In article ,
Dave wrote: Dave Plowman (News) wrote: I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? To do this, you will need two things. An extreamly hard drill and some means of stopping the twist drill from going off the centre of the self tapper and through the softer metal around it. The twist drill could have to be a solid tungsten carbide one (or possibly a C 1150 or D 200, but I have hit a brick wall in finding a source of them. They are considerably harder than a cobalt drill.) and the only way you can prevent it taking the easy way through the softer body metal is to use a hardened bush that can be clamped onto the body metal, to guide it through the screw. Unless you are very adept at making the drill stay on course. I do have tungsten carbide drills I use for drilling PCBs. But not sure I'd risk them on this - even if I could rig things up to use the PCB drill press. An alternative, but maybe expensive way, would be to find someone who can electrically erode it, by spark erosion. Good luck. If it was a local job, I would get out my hard drills and do it for you. Thanks for the offer. ;-) Dave -- *Strip mining prevents forest fires. Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#12
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Removing a broken self tapper
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? Why do you need to remove them at all? Are there no other fixing points? |
#13
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Removing a broken self tapper
In article ,
GB wrote: I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? Why do you need to remove them at all? Are there no other fixing points? The 'if there are four screws two will do' syndrome? ;-) Suppose they could be repositioned - but not until I'm certain they can't be removed. -- *Snowmen fall from Heaven unassembled* Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#14
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Removing a broken self tapper
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article , GB wrote: I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? Why do you need to remove them at all? Are there no other fixing points? The 'if there are four screws two will do' syndrome? ;-) Suppose they could be repositioned - but not until I'm certain they can't be removed. drill and use stud extractor maybe. Personally I'd _angle grind_ (TM) flat and drill 'next door' Or use CARBODYFILLER (TM) Do I get extra points? |
#15
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Removing a broken self tapper
On Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:39:29 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Suppose they could be repositioned - but not until I'm certain they can't be removed. You might be able to drill them and replace... failing that: 1) Completely drill the entire area and weld in new metal with appropriate hole (pain in the backside, but perhaps appropriate if restoring something "properly") 2) Move the fixing points as mentioned (cheap and cheerful, hopefully do-able in such a way that someone in the future could still do point one above if they wanted) cheers Jules |
#16
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Removing a broken self tapper
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message ... I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? I had a similar experience with the door handle screws on a Golf. In the end there was a combination of plus gas, time, cutting slots with a dremel and a drill. I think the slots and plus gas eventually did it. I find using a torque limited cheap electric screwdriver useful for these sorts of things - set them to a low torque setting and high speed and you get a very light impact driver effect that tends to get things moving. Drilling was something of a waste of time - the screw must have been made of something tough as it blunted drills like crazy. The heat may have helped a little though - couldn't use a blowtorch due to the still attached plastic handle. |
#17
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Removing a broken self tapper
Doki wrote:
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message ... I've got a couple of very small self tappers which have broken off flush with a blind housing made of thin mild steel - car bodywork. Due to being rusted in place. What's the best way to remove them with minimum damage to the bodywork? I had a similar experience with the door handle screws on a Golf. In the end there was a combination of plus gas, time, cutting slots with a dremel and a drill. I think the slots and plus gas eventually did it. I find using a torque limited cheap electric screwdriver useful for these sorts of things - set them to a low torque setting and high speed and you get a very light impact driver effect that tends to get things moving. Drilling was something of a waste of time - the screw must have been made of something tough as it blunted drills like crazy. The heat may have helped a little though - couldn't use a blowtorch due to the still attached plastic handle. The problem of drilling something hard is down to the very tip of the drill, the chisel point. If this is not hard enough to create a hole then all effort is wasted. Once you get a hole in the metal, known as a pilot hole, you might find that standard HSS drills will be OK to open it up. Obviously the twist drill must be freshly sharpened and run at a slow speed. Dave |
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