Any hints on how to get out the bottom allenhead bolt when it has been rounded? Thanks for any help.
Larry the only thing I do when all else fail is to clean the nut out real well with brake cleaner. I then take a allen head wrench that won't be used again and JB weld it in the nut. Let it set over night and you should be good to go to take it out.
Ron Carbaugh
Thanks Brother!
One other thing I had to do on a really difficult one was to take the next largest size allen wrench and grind it down to just barley fit and tap it in the bolt and then remove it. You can then just have that tool for the next hard to remove allen bolt.
Ron Carbaugh
Just simply drill the head off the bolt. I think those are 8mm bolts, and if you take a good quality drill bit the same size as the bolt diameter and drill the hex out, continue drilling until the head pops off. Then take things apart, and there is enough of the bolt left to grab with pliers or vice grips to get it the rest of the way out. If the damage to the hex isn't too bad, you can sometimes take a flat end punch or piece of round steel and hammer the mushroomed metal back down and reform the hex. Just use a small hammer if you have enough room. I have the advantage of having a small compressor and 3/8" impact and use that to blast them out on the first try. I have never had that fail.
Good luck and have fun,
Dan McEntee
McMaster Carr sells Sock-It-Outs that I've used for years on wallowed out socket head (Allen head) bolts. Google search Sock-It-Out and you'll quickly see how they work.
McMaster-Carr no longer carries Soct-It-Out tools, however you can find them at Wholesale Tool, Graingers, Amazon and sockitout.com.
Good Luck
Tony