[redpowerd]

well ive called everywhere i know that fixes motors and nobody can help me. only one shop could even tell me what an edm machine was and he said it wont fit a block.

ill look for a while for another short or long block. i have rebuilt heads, rebuilt pump, and new studs. along with a topend kit. allthough it ran over 100k miles without one headbolt holding it down, i refuse to put it back toghether without one and wouldnt even know were to start. it would be nice to find another 6.9 block in need of a headgasket or heads.

this will be the last time i let my brother in law near my truck with a drill /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/phoney.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif

 

[jmd025]

i have a 6.9 block with i believe a cracked head. still in vehicle, will run, but poorly (5-6 cylinders). im in louisiana though! Interested?

 

[redpowerd]

awful tempting, but quite a drive for a no-account farmer!
thanks

 

[Mr_Roboto]

What is the problem with the block?

 

[redpowerd]

top driver side, second from the back, headbolt snapped flush with the block. hole for ezout drilled off center, about half inch deep. ezout snapped off, i managed to bust the ezout in half after it broke, but i only got the larger peice out, the smaller one fell to the bottom of the hole and lodged itself.

 

[rthomas]

is there still part of the bolt up at the top? if there is you can weld a washer to whats left of the bolt, then weld a larger nut to the washer on the inside of the nut, i use old axle spindle nuts because ther easy to weld in the middle. let it cool for 5 mins and try turning it out, sometimes it takes a couple trys but ive had very good success dealing with broken bolts in this way

 

[brivers]

This is going to sound like a radical idea but bare with me I've done this type of thing before. First off, "rhthomas" has the right idea. Normally thats what I would do, and if the stud wasn't sticking up far enough I would weld a washer to it first and then the nut, and always use an impact wrench (on low torque setting). But it sounds like the hole for the easy out was drilled off center and broken off in there. To make matters worse it is probably in the threads and I know you will never thread that stud out with the easy out locked in the threads. We all know its almost impossible to drill out an easy out. So, if you know someone that is good with a cutting torch and have him or her burn the stud out. I know this sounds impossible but I've been doing these types of repairs for twenty five years and any welder will tell you its possible. You only get one good crack at it so make sure you get someone good. Even if you don't get it all, try to make sure he gets the easy out. Then a machinest will do the rest, but they usually won't touch it with the easy out in there. Cast iron won't burn like the steel stud would, it may get hot and melt a little around the thread, but You should be able to drill, thread, and helicoil it. Or install a bigger stud. Hate to see you have to trash the motor because of one stud. Good luck.

 

[asavage]

The OP (redpowerd) has covered what he's done in a blow-by-blow in this thread., and he has no bolt protruding above the block anymore.

As someone else posted, this can still be salvaged, redpowerd. It just requires a lot of patience and slow going. One fellow suggested building a mag-base guide block and using a cement bit, which sounded pretty good to me, though it wouldn't be my first approach, because you'd really like the finished hole to be on the same center as original, to fit the head.

It's too late now, but you've now learned the advantage of drilling on-center -- been there, believe me. Now that it's off-center with a very hard e-z-out piece in the bottom, the way I'd approach this is with a Dremel ($40, double that if you want a "wand" speedometer-cable-style unit) and about a dozen small bits (about another $40). I know that you're working with a hole that is a bit smaller than 7/16" and you want it to be about 1.5" deep, right? And right now it's "excavated" to about 1/2"?

A shop vac, a bright light, and a Dremel would be the way I'd approach it. You absolutely have to re-establish a center if you want to use a drill again, and you already have a through-hole off-center so that's out. Dremel it right into the threads. Buy either a Time-Sert (solid thread insert) or a Heli-Coil set for the finish size, and don't worry too much about dinging up the existing threads, just get the bolt pieces out by quartering and grinding.

Once you have almost all the old bolt out and the broken thread extractor out, you're looking at a clean though damaged hole, and then you just need a drill guide (I have a General brand one) to maintain the perpendicularity of the drill, and it's a straightforward re-thread job at that point.

If the block will support it, and I've never seen this block so I can't guess, you can go way oversize on your hole and still fix it, by making your own insert. I've done this many times to salvage expensive Corvair blocks. But lets leave that until you *know* that your hole will be over 7/16". As long as you only damage the original threads and go no further, you can easily guide-drill and install a std Heli-Coil or Time-Sert or equivalent.

I can't help but think this is less work than yanking the engine and putting another one in. Unless you're looking for an excuse to do that. You've been fighting this broken bolt for two months, I hope that my advise is useful.

 

[redpowerd]

boy when i seen that hole off center i could have choked him to death!

thanks for the advice, this thing ran strong before the intake valve bit that fire ring, and ive done nothing but invest and work on it, anything i can do before i pull the motor will proly be time well spent.

i had actually thought of burning the stud out, or even just the ezout. problem is its a blind hole, nowheres for the slag to blast to.

i had thought of dremeling the excess of the bolt down to where its bottomed, or where the ezout sits. thats about where the threads start in the block. if i can get a nice flat surface down there and use an anvil punch to get it right in center, i may be able to drill the rest out and just peel the threads out with a pick.

ill want a magnetic base for a drill, dont know where to find one, also what would be the best bit for the dremel?

thanks for the help!

 

[brivers]

Actually The slag does have a place to go. Right back out. If you've ever burned a hole in a thick plate (2" or so), it doesn't go through instantly. It comes back in your face. For a welder thats part of the job. For an amateur it a terrible thing and would probably choke half way through the burn. Thats why I tell you to get someone with experience. I know this works. If you live near me I'd do it for free. Its about a 5 minute job. Make sure you cover everything if you decide to do it, especially your windshield. Good luck with whatever you try.

 

[rmr]

I've done what rthomas said, but I usually use a short bolt 1 size smaller than what is broken off, if it is a 7/16" headbolt I would try to weld on a 3/8" bolt. I usually don't wait for it to cool, just long enough for the weld to set up. They do make a drill with a big magnetic base, very strong electromagnet. Milwaulkee makes one, sometimes called a mag drill,very expensive and big and heavy, not sure you could get that thing in there. Maybe a rental place has one you could look at. Good luck, we've all been there!

 

[Baar]

If you can find an experienced welder/mechanic who absolutly knows how, have the thing burned out. I have seen my Dad do it several times. Bright clean threads in the iron when he was done. He used a cutting torch. He heated the broken stud to the right color, then hit the oxygen. Poof, no stud and no damage to the iron. The trick? Knowing when the color was right, (and having a fire extinguisher handy). You really only get one shot, so be sure the person knows how.
If you have any old scrap iron parts, with threads, you could try a few practice shots. My self, I would get an expert.

 

[huskyhauler]

this reminds me of a job i did with some "marine wet manifolds". aluminum to top it off too. i did the same with the dremel, but stayed about 10-15 thou from the threads. cut four slots, and with a sharp chisel, i used the corner of it to lightly colapse the bolt. i heated it with a MAPP gas torch, and sprayed some PB Blaster on it. let it sit overnight, and in the morning it walked its way out. the key is to heat enough to break the rust lock, but not to hot to warp anything. it is hard to warp it with MAPP or Propane, but easy with Oxy Ace. the PB with the heat was allowed to enter the threads breaking the rest of the "lock". this is a common practice with the N14 aka Big Cam 855 Cummins. the head bolts are always breaking in the block. this is the TSB procedure Cummins listed in the late 70's on all head bolt replacement.. it sounds wicked, but it works. i have yet to not get a head bolt out when doing an in-frame. carbide bit on the dremel will cut right through that hardened easy-out, as well as the bolt.

 

[60bugeye]

I am really suprized that no one has suggested that you call Graingers and order a carbide tipped left hand twist drill bit and then drill the stud out. Most people think that you are crazy when mentioning left handed drill bits but they do make drill bits that have a reverse twist (left handed). You run the drill in reverse and as it is drilling the bit is trying to back out the broken stud. Works like a champ!!! and lots easier than an easy out. If for some chance it doesnt back out while drilling then you can use an easy out in the hole it drilled. I have a set of these bits and they are so sweet for broken studs.

Leo

 

[asavage]

I agree with LH bits, but that only works if you have a virgin bolt. redpowerd has a mess: off-center hole, down in a well. He's beyond what a LH bit can do.

 

[CowKiller]

i got a block, would need to be honed but it has never been rebuilt. i spun #3 rod bearing, so crank/rod is bad, but it sat open all winter. pistins are rusted in, cyl walls orange. but i am sure it coudl be brought back.

 

[Birken Vogt]

I caught this one late but I must add my opinion here also that it is indeed very salvageable. Cast iron is a very forgiving metal to work with because it handles heat very well and is also strong. As has been stated all you really need to do is burn the broken ez-out out (easy because it is so well isolated from the iron, it will be red hot before the iron even notices the torch is there) and then remove the bolt (not as easy but still not bad because the bolt is a small mass and the iron block is a very large mass), and while it may appear to the eye that the bolt and block are one, the heat transfer between them is quite low, and the bolt will reach the burning temperature long before the block does.

I once removed a rusted on truck bed, and I thought I was going to burn through the bolts from below, but much to my surprise when I thought I had everything to the right red and pressed the oxygen lever, the nut burned off leaving the bolt and its threads in good but still rusty condition, and I was not even trying to save the bolts. It just happened that way.

The main concern here is going to be preventing surrounding items from catching fire. Once you have that pesky bolt out slap a heli coil (or 3) in it and you are good to go another 200,000

Birken