I have 2 broken exhaust bolts in the head. I have been dealing with it since I bought the car...just changing the gasket every so often. At one point, I tried drilling out the bolts.....but I couldnt find any drill bits that would drill into the bolts....they are hardened! I just got a set of headers, and I would really like to fix the problem before I put them on....and I want to avoid pulling off the head. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

 

Did you try carbide bit drills? They worked for me on hardened bolts before.

 

Ya know, I was thinking about trying them....but I destroyed supposed titanium tip bits.... If my snapon guy shows up tomorrow, I'll pick some up and let ya know how it turned out! Thanks!

 

Well, do you have a welder or access to one? If so Grab a nut and weld it to the broken bolt. After you do so just grab a wrentch and turn it loose. Might take a couple of tries. I would drop the old drilling cause that will get you no where fast. This is a trick that always works for me :-).

 

I was going to origianlly do that....but the bolts are to far broken off in the head. I bought every single kind of drill bit that home depo has..and hopefully one will work. I really doubt it tho...I have every kind of drill bit, Im just hoping they were dull!!!

 

If they are the outside bolts,you will be happy to know that headers use different holes.

 

Titanium drill bits won't work. Get some carbide ones and start in the middle with a thin one to create a path for a larger one. Drill slow and lubricate.

 

As a diemaker having to deal with broken screws/bolts all the time one of the best ways I've found to extract them is by spinning a left-hand drill in reverse. Let it bite and magically the screw will reverse itself. Not sure on the availability of "solid" carbide left-hand drills but it's another idea.
Greg

 

lol , I paid someone to take mine out , I had 2 broken off in the heads too , I couldnt figure out how to get it , I was afraid of shoving a drill in the wholes and I have no experience at all with that so I made it someone elses problem , lol . I dont know how he got them out but he did .

 

Just like he said. If you can get left handed bits. That way if it grabs you will be unscrewing the bolt and not making it tighter. If this does get it to come out, get some easy outs. They are something you use once in a while but love them when you need them. I only used my kit once so far in 2 years, but that one time paid for the heart ache.
Use whatever type of PB Blaster you like.