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I was installing the valve covers on my Northstar and had a bolt brake off, just the tip so I could remove it, it neede to be drilled out. I started to drill it out and then the tip of the drill bit broke off. Any ideas on what to do now?
P.S. the heads are aluminum so heat may not be good.
Snapon Tools makes a kit that has a broken tap and drill bit removal removal tool. You may be able to also get something similar from your local auto parts store. They work pretty good, but tend to be expensive. another thing you can try on the drill bit is a very small set of needle noze pliers, if you can get around the flukes, you might be able to turn it backwards enough to get it out. Good luck, your in a bad situation.
When ya break a drill bit off your kinda screwed,can't drill a drill bit and extractors wont work, so a small pair of needle nose may be the answer, I've also on small bolts use 2 paper clips opened up and worked down the flutes of the bit and got it working back & forth , if ya can get the piece of drill bit moving ya pretty much got it made, in either case don't give up and have lotsa patience with it. Good Luck
I got the bolt out!!!!! YAAA...
I had just enough of the back of the bolt sticking out the rear, thank goodness it was a corner bolt. Enough to rest the ground up againist. I then used the MIG welder and welded a few spot welds on top of each other, tapped the side of the head with a hammer and used a small pair of Vise grips. I built up the weld just large enough to fit the Vise grips. I had to do it three times though, the first started to turn and the weld broke off, the 2nd didn't really even connect much and the third worked. Thanks alot for the help guys, I don't even need to rethread the hole, the threads are fine other then were I hit it with the drill bit on the first 2 or 3 threads, but no big deal, it has about 12 to 15 more to hold on to. Just need to run a chaser down it and I should be good to go.
Good to hear, glad it worked out for you. I was going to mention the welding trick, but didn't want to see you overheat those aluminum heads.