The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Clutch head screw removal

Wondering whats the best way to remove clutch head screws that have heads that stripped out? tried drilling..they are too hard..drill barely touches them or bit breaks..whats the trick??

i suggest you get a high quality set of reverse drill bits, they are handy for this application.
Carbon steel drill bits will drill that screw, and if it catches instead it will unscrew it.
-s

correction
... i mean cobalt steel bits,
carbon steel are the softer ones, then HSS, then cobalt steal
-s

I have drilled them out with no problem on other vehicles but I'm wondering if GM started using harder bolts at some point? I am working on a 46 truck and really struggling

The following method may or may not work. Take a medium size ball peen hammer and give the head 3-4 solid blows. Then using an old flatblade screwdriver that fits snuggly in the clutch head slot. Put pressure in the “loosey” position and tap the handle straight down as you turn the driver. It just may come loose. This is all of course after a good dose of penetrating oil. Good luck.

If the drill bit breaks, it's a mighty cheap bit or too small. NOT SHARP...or you are too aggressive. The screws are not that hard of steel. Also, if you have decided it's OK to drill off the head, then slice a cross in it with a 1/16 thick cut off disc and chisel off the head. Reversing drill bits or easy outs are very hard to do. Very hard to get a hole in the center of a small shank screw. You will end up damaging the female threads.

Each method depends on where the screw is and what it is holding. Depends on what the end goal is. Depends on if there is a threaded hole, a nut plate, an actual nut..........that the clutch head screw is threaded into. If PB Blaster will penetrate or not for final shank extraction.
This is a pretty common problem that you will have to get good at.
Taking off the head only gets the parts apart, it does not remove the shank. But getting parts to the bench/drill press, etc. is a good goal.

If you can use a small Vise-Grip plier you may be able to grab the head. As stated above spray with PB blaster.
I have also removed them from the rear if space permits.
Harold

Last resort, or first.. TIG weld on the head and grab it with vice grips. The concentrated heat does magic. Also works on screws with broken off heads.

Here is what worked..I bought cobalt drill bits, they worked for 1 screw and were shot. so I bought small cut off wheels (about the size of a quarter) for my dremel..i used it to make straight slots in screw heads and big screwdriver took them out..I had to tune up screwdriver on grinder for nice square edges. I have drilled out many others on other trucks with no problem..seems like screws on this 46 are made os kriptonite.....

I would like to thank all those that offered help. Good job guys. 6 responses in less than 7 hrs. You can't beat this place.

Similar to what snotnose (what a name!) has done, I've used my dremel with cut off blades and would grind a flat spot on one side of the head, then over on the other side, giving two parallel flat spots for a pair of small vice grips. Before tweaking, I'd of course use some Pentron or homemade batch of ATF/Acetone, to help break it loose.

Dremel tool huh?

I use a 1/16" wide cutoff disc on a 3" angle grinder to cut a slot for a straight-blade screwdriver. One quick pass and it's done.
Jerry

Big boys use angle grinders.

Rarified air.

Yes, air or electric.

I have a couple angle grinders both air and electric, but for the size of the typical clutch screw head, little Mr. Dremel works like a champ................at least for me.

Tried my Dremel several times. Not robust enough for me. .093 and .125 dia shafts. Will try it again sometime. Stuck on die grinders and angle grinders for now.

BTW: Brad has an awesome collection on his Flickr pages.

Hey Jerry, you still got the guard on that angle grinder? Hmmm?

Carl
Safety first.
Unless it gets in the way of course.

I have worked on many clutch head screws myself. Like most of you, my arsenal includes, using a flat screw driver, drilling, penetrating oil, dremel, grinder, impact screwdriver and a couple homemade ones.....the one thing I didn't mention but is probably the most important of all is PATIENCE.

..... I'll admit to using one of my dremels on more than one occasion. Handy to have working on metal or my woodworking .........
i even like the way the dang little things "sings" when i turn it on.

Taking my doors apart required the heat wrench on nearly every clutch head I came across. It was a pain, but it never failed to work

YA I done angle grind too, but kinda hard to precisely control..dremmel was easier for me..

Not a clutch head, but could work in other situations. Had a set of locking lug nuts without a key, and nothing else worked so I mig welded 6 tacks around it to give a socket something to bite on to. Worked great and got all 4 off a couple other shops had failed to get off.

I have a tool that I bought when I had a motorcycle that works pretty good on stuck bolts or screws. You postion it on the offending screw, give it a slight twist to the left, then hit it with a hammer. The hit keeps the bit in the screw and gives it a slight turn to the left. Sometimes it takes a few strikes to get it out, and the head of the screw must be able to hold the bit, so I have to be sure to use it before I have stripped it out. Do not remember what it is called, but it works.

Lee

Hand Impact Driver available at Harbor Freight and others.

Worked for me. https://www.amazon.com/CTA-Tools-87...&hvtargid=pla-450089056290&psc=1

I found a set of clutch head bits for my hand impact screwdriver and it's never failed me yet. Just get a bigger hammer. I also have the 3/8" drive ones GeneBrink posted, they work great. I take a pick and clean them out real good first. It is worth the time to me to not mess it up when trying because once it slips once it gets considerably harder.

I welded a bit to my pneumatic hammer with a screw driver handle welded to the side. This lets me vibrate the rust out and turn the bit with the screwdriver handle at the same time. I actually made one for phillips and straight bits also.

I made one of those and it works like a champ. I just ground the end of the hammer tool bit into a 3/8" square so that I could use the 3/8" drive clutch head bits on it.
The beauty is that this tool does not apply any torque on the fastener. It only applies the hammering force to loosen up the rust. The torque to turn the fastener is applied by your hand on the welded-on handle on the tool bit.