From: lfiskgr@gmail.invalid   
      
   On Fri, 19 Sep 2025 09:29:22 -0400   
   "Jim Wilkins"  wrote:   
      
      
   >The mill    
   >had drilled out the broken screw remains in the distributor casting    
   >accurately and squarely enough to keep the drill bit from deflecting into    
   >the softer aluminium.   
      
   Nice job!   
      
   Removing broken off metal parts stuck in aluminum (or anything soft)   
   really sucks😑️   
      
   I broke off a threaded bolt while changing the thermostat in old   
   truck years ago. Simple 30 minute job became whole day job. Even worse   
   I broke off a harden steel EZ-Out in the broken bolt stub too🙄️   
      
   I got out the Dremel and a Carbide cutter I'd bought years ago but   
   never used. Was REALLY surprised to find this actually worked and I   
   ground out the broken off EZ-Out albeit very slow. Had to work at a   
   ~45deg angle to my vision, so couldn't really see what I was doing. I   
   noticed early on while cutting on the EZ-Out that it sounded different   
   if I drifted off it into the aluminum. Once the EZ-Out was gone I just   
   kept working on the broken bolt stub by ear. It went a lot faster than   
   the EZ-Out. Once I chewed through the length of it to aluminum on one   
   side what was left came out.   
      
   I picked up a metric tap for it the next day to clean up what was left   
   between cutting and corrosion. It still had enough threads left to do   
   the job with a new bolt okay.   
      
   In hindsight I should have just used the hole drilled into bolt stub for   
   EZ-Out to guide the Dremel cutter instead. Listened to the noise while   
   cutting to guide it. Would have taken maybe an hour extra instead of a   
   day.   
      
   I knew better than to try an EZ-Out for a job like this but the bolt   
   had been moving a bit by wrench early on. I just didn't want to go get   
   a better suited wrench to tease it back and forth and broke it off   
   being too impatient...   
      
   --    
   Leon Fisk   
   Grand Rapids  MI   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)