The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Getting rusted trim screws out

Hello,

I am cleaning the cab on my 48 GMC 1 ton out completely. This includes the door & window trims.

About four or five screws don't want to let go. I tried drilling them out too, got me a special cobalt left threaded 1/4" drill bit, but this steel is so hard, it doesn't want to budge.

Any tips?

I am going to town and get some thin cutting discs for my dremel type tool to cut a slot first and try with the flat screwdriver, last step would be cutting the beasts off, but then I have to still get the rest out, sheesh!

Joerg

I have had some success with a hand-held impact driver, penetrant oil for a few days prior will help. If you have access to the back side, use a propane or MAPP torch to heat the screw.

Penetrating oil first. Then maybe a 1/4 impact driver. A couple taps each direction (tighten and loosen.) If that breaks the first one off then add heat from a fine tip torch on the rest of them.

Definitely douse them with Kroil or PB Blaster a few days before. I have had success by heating the head of the screw dull red, let it cool for about ten seconds then douse it with Kroil or PB Blaster. The heat draws the penetrant in. Then try an impact drill as Kevin suggested.

Agree with Kevin and Phil on penetrating oil of some kind first (both of Phil's suggestions have worked well for me). For me, I've had good luck with small interior hardware like that using a small hand held 1/4" bit driver ratchet like the one below. Clean out the screw head opening to get your bit to set down as deep as possible, then using one thumb/hand to hold pressure down on the bit, twist the ratchet to break free the hardware. The torque applied with this tool has helped me break loose some really rusted/stubborn hardware.

If you booger up the screw head, use a MIG or a TIG welder to build up enough metal to grab with vice grips.
I have done this with great success, often times the screw comes out without much effort at all due to the extreme heat from the welding which you can't generate with a propane or mapps torch.

Thank you all for your tips.

I got all non-cooperative screw's out with various tricks.

I had my battery charger beside the truck since I had tried to start the engine with a 6V battery that doesn't hold charge anymore and got thinking. One (or several) of you mentioned heat and I tried something new for me. I connected ground to the ground cable and cleaned the head of my first 'patient' up clean & shiny and held the positive from the charger still on 6V on to the head. I thing I wanted to avoid was fusing the threads together, so I tried this with no change to the willingness to turn. Next was 12V 30amp for probably 10 seconds and this screw came with my impact M18 impact driver with several gentle reverse & forward actions.

The next screw was more stubborn and did come, so I tried 60amp for 10 seconds and this one came too. I don't know if it was truly the heating or just luck, but something to try again if needed.

Knowledge, ingenuity, patience and persistence are the best tools in my toolbox. Happy to hear your results!

If you have access to a media blaster, use it to rough up the tip of the screwdriver, it will help give a better bite.

This is the best screw removal tool. https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-s...6432697&wickedsource=google&wv=4

I was always taught to try to tighten them first. It often works for me.

I know you mentioned a cobalt drill to use, look and see if you can find a Carbide drill much harder. I would start with a smaller diameter drill then work up, I have actually taken a small Carbide ball rotary bit in a high speed, very carefully grinding out the center of the screw.

Having a 37 with seemingly hundreds of clutch head screws, I found there’s about a half a dozen different ways to get them out. If it’s in an area that is safe enough, nothing works as well as heat. 88 years of rust breaks loose the best with heat. If a couple of the simple ways don’t work, and you can get to the backside, which you often cannot do, I would drill the head off and use vice grips on the backside.

One of those butane lighters which look like a mini blow torch works great for stuck sheet metal screws.
Keep in mind that you are not trying to melt anything. You are only trying to create expansion and contraction of to different types of metal. This process causes movement between the two different metals creating space for them to let go of each other.
If they don't let go right after you hit them with a little heat, let it cool off and see if they come loose.
I don't try to heat the sheet metal. I just heat the screw. The heat will travel from the screw head to the sheet metal just fine.