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#1
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W123 Sheared Off Lower Sock Bolt Head Drill Out
Change out a rear Shock Absorber on a W123 and I sheared/broke one of the Bolt Heads off.
I decided to try to drill it out with the Trailing Arm still on the Car. I center punched what was left of the Bolt OK but I have always had trouble drilling a staright hole even when what I am drilling is on a Bench and I continued My tradition and got the Hole off center and likely at some Angle. I only had 2 choices of Easy Outs (see pic) that I already have and as the M10x1.5 Bolt is not much larger in diameter than an 3/8" Bolt the Easy Outs in that size are not very sturdy. So I one of the Easy Outs and it did not work and I stopped before I broke it. I drilled the hole out larger and tried the larger Easy Out and it jus sort of reamed out the metal. I tried drilling a hole on the outside of the Threads to see if that would relieve it a bit and tried the larger Easy Out but no luck.
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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel |
#2
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Since neither Easy Out worked My next plan was to drill out the hole using the Tap Drill (8.5mm) and Tap M10x1.5 I had bought at PepBoys for another Job that I never did.
Well the Drill was too soft and did not get Far. I decided to use other Drill Bits that I had to gradually enlarge the Hole. I did that until there was a sleeve threaded Meatal left inside the Hole. The threaded Metal Sleeve was pried out and I chased the threads of the Hole with the Tap. The problem now is that due to my crooked drilling there is only about 50% if the threads left. That leaves Me with the choice of using it as it is and see how long it will last or installing a Helicoil or drilling it oversized and using an oversized Bolt. I am going to try to go with the oversized Bolt because that is cheaper than a Helicoil and I already have a Tap and Tap Drill for that. 7/16" is the closest US size that is just a bit larger than the M10 Bolt is. First I need to see if the Local Industrial Hardware Store has the 7/16" in a suitable Grade first. So until My Wife gets Home I have no way to get to the Store. If that does not work all that is left is to get a Bolt long enough to go though that hole and allow acseparate Nut to be put on it.
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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel |
#3
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Drilling a straight hole under the car like that is difficult.
If you can get the hole to be the same size as the bolt needed to attach the shock (what is it M10?) you can use a longer bolt and a stiff nut on the other side of the nadgered threaded portion of the trailing arm. It is tricky to do this but I have managed to hold a nut in place with bent needle nose pliers stuffed through the coils of the spring. The best option however is to remove the trailing arm and grind off the square threaded block and weld on a new piece.
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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver 1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone 1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy! 1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits! |
#4
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Ahhh we're posting at the same time - if you can't drill a straight hole you'll have trouble with helicoils.
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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver 1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone 1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy! 1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits! |
#5
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Quote:
For this particular purpose since the Bolt (one of 2 Blolts) only holds the Shock absorber in place even if the Hole is cocked/not straight as long as it has all a full set of threads it is better off than with 50% of the original Threads.
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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel |
#6
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Quote:
Even though I have another Trailing Arm (buried I My Grage somwhere) I did not want to remove the Arm unless I have to.
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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel |
#7
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So the Hardware Store had the 7/16" Bolts and I did the drill and tapping and it turned out fine.
I am not going to install the Shock absorber till tomarrow.
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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel |
#8
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Ahhh you now have a metr-inch Mercedes!
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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver 1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone 1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy! 1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits! |
#9
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When I did the rears on my 79 I had the same problem, snapped one bottom bolt on each side. Laying underneath the car made it near imposable for me to drill a nice straight hole (dull drill bits didn't help either), so I ended up just drilling the bolt out and replacing it with a nut and bolt. I added some locktite to the threads to make sure it didn't come undone.
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2004 F150 4.6L -My Daily 2007 Volvo XC70 -Wife's Daily 1998 Ford F150 -Rear ended 1989 J-spec 420SEL -passed onto its new keeper 1982 BMW 733i -fixed and traded for the 420SEL 2003 Volvo V70 5 Speed -scrapped 1997 E290 Turbo Diesel Wagon -traded for above 1992 BMW 525i -traded in 1990 Silver 300TE -hated the M103 1985 Grey 380SE Diesel Conversion, 2.47 rear end, ABS -Sold, really should have kept this one 1979 Silver 300D "The Silver Slug" -Sold |
#10
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Diversity!
If someone else ends up owning the Car they are likely to be in for a suprise.
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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel |
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