Hey guys i'm putting the iso thermal spacer on today. I'm trying to get off a 10mm bolt on the lower plenum but the head of the bolt is stripped. This seems to be the last bolt i have to get off to put the gasket in. My question to you guys is what is the easiest way to get this stripped bolt off of the car so i can complete the installation. Is there a special tool that gets stripped bolts off or any other ideas people may have are welcomed, thanks.

 

Is the head stripped, or the threads?

Stripped head = hammer a socket onto it and crank it off.
Stripped threads = Drill it out, then re-tap the threads with a helicoil or something.

 

The head is stripped i'm pretty sure the threads are just fine.

 

Drill it out.

 

just want to make sure it isn't one of the guide bolts. they don't have heads on them, but look similar.

 

Hey gothchick this might sound stupid but i'm just making sure that i will be doing this correctly. Should i hammer a socket on there that is smaller than the 10mm bolt since the head is stripped and should it be metric or mm does it even matter.

 

no its not a guide bolt i know what your talking about motormouth.

 

ok, I would drill it out as long as it's the head, so you don't have to retap. hammering a socket on isn't the worst idea ever, a standard size might even be better since it possibly could not be a full size smaller.... use a blow torch on the socket to make it expand then hammer that siht on. I just worry, because the plenums are pretty fragile from my dealings with them, that you could damage it possibly.

 

Yeah, just hammer any socket (one that you don't care about) on there. Smaller (metric or not, doesn't matter). Don't go overboard with the hammering... Don't want to cause futher damage. :-)

 

ok gothchick, thanks for the advice ill give that a try it sounds promising. I appreciate your time and also thank you everyone else.

 

Gotta be careful with the hammer on the aluminum plenum.

 

No need to hammer or drill, there is a better/easier way.

I had a stripped oil drain plug bolt on my MDX couple years ago. Got a bolt-out kit from Sears. This is basically a set of sockets with decreasing spiral "flower" shape. The socket slides on the damaged bolt, and when you turn it, the inside edges of the spiral bite into it, allowing relatively easy removal. It worked like a charm.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...TOOL&ihtoken=1

Pictures below:

 

no luck with the hammering the socket. Don't they have a tool like at home depot that fits any sized bolts or misshapen bolts for that matter i forget what its called. Have any of you tried this product before i use to have one but let someone borrow it and it was gone so i never got to use it. I'm figuring since i didn't get it back it worked pretty well lol.

 

mg350zr thanks man i think thats what i was talking about. Ill be going to home depot to go get this here in a bit. I hope this spacer is worth the work im having to go through to get this damn lower plenum off.

 

That things a pos for high torque anyway. Just get what the guy posted above you. You'd be crazy to drill it out and retap it because of the head.

 

+1

Thats what I used.

 

Great this is what i need thank you. Sometimes you guys make life alot easier thank all of you very much ill be going to home depot to go pick this up.

 

Just use a dremel and grind a small line on top of the bolt head and then use somekind of impact screwdriver to break it loose.. works for me on most stripped bolts.. good luck

 

vice grips = uber poop try em or the craftsman removal tool there great

 

+1. Go buy the right tool for the job. Forget all the ghetto jimmy riggin' ways of doing things. BTW, Home Depot carries a line of extractors also, similar to the ones above. They're made by the same company that makes Vise Grips.