Extract Bolt From Bottom?

The other night while swapping the handle bars on my '78 xs400 i over tightened the bolt that holds the clutch lever assembly the bars. It sheered off clean in the bottom half of the part.

It seems it would be easier to use a bolt/screw extractor from the bottom and try to get the bolt to tighten all the way through the bottom instead of backing it back out through the top.

is it even possible to use a screw extractor from the bottom? from my understanding the extractor is screwed in counterclockwise which backs the bolt out the way it went in. if i did this from the bottom the bolt would still be rotating counterclockwise and go out the way in came in.

any way to get it to come out the bottom?

in the photo you can see the hole to the right of the hi/lo switch.

bolt goes in from top and there is a gap in the threads. bolt is snapped off in bottom half.

 

Welcome to the forums.

You're right about standard extractors..... they turn counter-clockwise to remove the bolt.

It's not terribly easy to see the bottom of what you are working on. We can see where the bolt is missing but that doesn't help much.

 

If you don't have an extractor I would drill and tap the center of the broken bolt. Then run in the smaller size bolt and lock it in place with a jam nut if working from the bottom or use a shoulder bolt from above and run it in until it bottoms on the shoulder and continue tightening. Fist though I would spray with penetrating oil to make sure the old, broken bolt comes out as easy as possible.

Whichever method you choose be careful. The bolt is probably much harder than the casting around it so you will have to be careful drilling into the bolt so the bit does not walk off and damage the casting.

 

Counter-clockwise from the bottom would be in the same direction as clockwise from the top. Is the opeing threaded all the way to the bottom?

 

Thanks have been lurking on here for a while!

the view from the bottom is just the bolt in the hole. ill try to take a pic this weekend.

i have an extractor set, im just curious if there was a way to use it on the bottom of the bolt to get it to turn itself out vs backing it back out the top.

i am worried about extracting from the top because i dont want to damage the top portion of the threeads

 

I agree with your concern. You will have the same dilemma screwing it out from the bottom.

 

Does the bottom half of the bracket not separate from the top or is it a C shaped piece that pinches the handlebar?

 

I don't see why an extractor would not work from the bottom. You need to turn it the same direction to get it out as the you would from the top. Should work no problem.

 

its a C piece that pinches the bar, there are threads on the top section and the bottom section.

 

i know it will work from the bottom, im wondering if i can get the broken bolt to continue out through the bottom. i dont want the broken bolt going back through the top if i cant help it.

 

Was the bolt you broke, all thread, or did it have a shoulder? With a shoulder, it won't come out the bottom. I always, at work, use left handed drill bits for bolt extracting, especially small bolts, a lot of the time the drill will bite enough to unscrew the bolt.

 

only the bottom half of the bolt is still in the hole. There is no shoulder.

so i should try to drill it out with a regular drill bit (not left handed) and hope it bites and screws the bolt out the bottom...?

i do NOT want the bolt to back out the top, i need it to continue out the bottom.

 

I would soak it in penetrating oil then carefully drill a pilot hole down the center of the broken bolt. Then from above see if a wood or deck screw can bite in the hole enough to turn the bolt. If that doesn't work then I'd try a size or two larger drill bit. Don't try to drill it out. Try to get the larger bit to grab and hopefully transmit enough torque to turn it.

 

thanks Dane ill give that a try this weekend if its not 12 degrees. Ive attached a close up of the photo.

also is there an easier way to quote text in this forum besides copy and pasting the text in between quote brackets

 

I'd start spraying it with penetrating oil now so it's ready for you to tackle this weekend.

The quote feature was purposefully removed to keep posts shorter. Some people just clicked quote, then others would quote posts with quotes and soon 90% of the post is full of stuff that is there two posts above.

 

Make sense!
will do, bolt was just out so it shouldnt be too stuck in there

thanks again Dane