THSCC Forums

i rebuilt the gti's front calipers...in the process of bleeding the brakes, i broke the bleeder screw in half...i tried to get the remaining half of the screw out of the caliper with an easy-out...i promptly broke the easy-out off as well...i've been attempting to drill out the easy-out with titanium and cobolt bits (with cutting fluid) and i seem to be getting no where...the bits aren't breaking, they just aren't penetrating...any advice????

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05 MCS

Suck up and replace the caliper.

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George Bright Member # 141
One of the youngest of the old farts.
Yes I voted against you joining the club.

if it comes to it, that's what i'll do, but if i can somehow get the bleeder screw out, i'd like to do that.

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05 MCS

There is a great machine shop right off of Tryon towards Garner. I can't think of the name right off. They saved me big time when I broke an axle nut off. I will try to find the name and post it for you.

To late now, but for the future: If you break off a bolt while removing it, either go straight to the machine shop or drill it out and use a helicoil (Or in your case an over size bleed screw)
If the dia. of the bolt was not enough to turn it out, that skinny little easy out will not cut it either and they are made of diamonds(Or so it seems when you need to drill a broken one)
If you really want to try yourself, heat just the easy out red hot(If you can, you should take the pistons out first before trying this. I don't think I would try it with an alloy caliper either) then let it cool slowly. That might get it soft enough to drill thru it. Then go to good oldschool parts shop that has those slide out bins of stuff and find the next size bleeder and get a tap to match.

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RedLanternRacing, builders of the fastest cars in last place.
Success is not an option.
1981 Scirocco, "Vera"

One other thing that can be tried is to use a drill bit with a LEFT handed twist. You need to go to tool shop for it your local hardware or big box lumber places wont have them.

And in the future, to avoid easy-out breakage, clamp your work in a vice and use a drill press (slooooooooooow speed) instead of trying by hand. With the easy-out that far in you were probably on the verge of getting the thing out, but one slip to an angle and the easy-out breaks and you're toast. Careful not to put too much downward pressure from the drill press on the screw, though, since if it starts to turn it's going to be pushing back. I've had success sort of bumping pressure into the thing...that way when it grabs the pressure down is released fairly quickly and it can back out and up.

Also, if you can it' s a good idea to drill a tiny hole in the screw first, then use the easy-out on that. WITH A DRILL PRESS! Drilling the screw by hand is just as dangerous as drying the easy-out by hand. Let's the easy out get a grip on more metal without having to put outward pressure on the screw (at least as much pressure) to do it. Obviously that outward pressure is bad.


--Donnie

Find a nut that has about the same inner diameter as the OD of the screw, weld slag down the hole and use a wrench to remove. That's advice from the speedbleeder website.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

Ohhh, I kinda like that idea...

Got a broken bleeder screw on one of the front calipers on my bike- that might just do the trick. I HATE using EZ Outs on stuff like that, they always break and then become IMPOSSIBLE TO GET OUTS.......

Bret

turns out adam ligon had a matching caliper in his trash can...i got it this afternoon, cleaned it up, replaced some seals and now i'm good to go...only thing left is bleeding...hehehe...hopefully it will go better this time

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05 MCS

A bit late, but here is the place:

Hamilton Machine Works:

http://local.triangle411.com/Hamilton+M ... .home.html

I like the tapered twist style easyouts rather than the straight flute ones.
Donnie's suggestion is a good one, but I have a lot of trouble strapping the drill press up under the car...

For next time:
Any way you look at it you'll need to pull the caliper off to finish the repair so might as well just drill it out and tap it oversized to begin with.

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

Chuck, you mean you don't have one of these:

http://www.mytoolstore.com/milwauke/4204-1.html



No, that wouldn't help this situation, but they sure are nice when you need to drill holes in thick steel on something you can't get your drill press around. Like trailers, or the bottom of a car frame rail. A little on the expensive side for such a specialty tool, I admit. But damn cool, nonetheless. The magnet on these babies is *strong*.


--Donnie

Those are very popular with the safecracker crowd...

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

Here is a little more economical solution.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44506

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George Bright Member # 141
One of the youngest of the old farts.
Yes I voted against you joining the club.