Broken hood frame component

A part of my hood frame has sheared off. It is a 17mm hex headed rod with the end machined down with a thread, it has sheared at the threaded end. I do have a spare hood frame and my initial thought was to take the part off my spare but that sheared too. Before I do anthing else does anyone know how best to procede.

That is a fittingbolt , mostly the cilinderic part is used to let a glide bearing slide over it .
Big chance that they are glued in with loctite , try heat them up with a painstripgun and give a short yank on the bold to break the glue.

If you cant buy a replacement bolt, they go by the name of "Shoulder bolt", though mainly capheads. Would need to measure up and see if you can find a suitable replacement.

To remove the broken bit you need lots of heat, and (unless there is some thread sticking out the other side to grip) stud extractors.
Another way is to weld a nut over the top (welding inside the nut) and the heat loosens the thread, and the nut allows you to turn it.

Last resort is to drill it out.

Thanks for the shoulder bolt lead, just what I needed to know.

Here in Oz we call that a shouldered bolt.
To get the broken threaded piece is easier said than done!
I just spent the last 2 weeks removing broken high tensile bolts from a large plastics shredder for a recycler. The machine is getting a thorough overhaul having spent the last 10 years running 24/7.

The best and most reliable method I've used is as follows:
I use a pneumatic die grinder with a carbide burr to grind the uneven breakage smooth (you could use a dremmel instead of a die grinder), this will allow me to use a center punch to put a punch dimple in the center of the broken bolt now using a small cobalt drill bit (@ 3mm or 1/8") in a pneumatic drill ( a good battery drill will do) I drill a pilot hole through the center of the broken bolt.
Next I use a lefthanded drill bit a size or 2 smaller than the bolt diameter...... as you drill in the drill should bite as it cuts into the bolt this will unscrew the broken bolt from the hole.( of course you use a left handed drill in reverse) If this doesn't work then I use a drill bit of the size that you would use to tap the thread ( example to cut an 8mm dia thread you would dill a 6.5mm hole, there are reading charts on the net to give you a guide as which drill size to use on the required tread tap)
I now carfully retap the thread to remove the old tread coils.
Should the tread be to damaged to repair by retaping I use a thread insert such as a helicoil or recoil brand.
But it is absolutely essential that you drill you hole in the center of the bolt.......get it off center and your in a world of pain!

There are various broken bolt removers out there such as the easy-out but you still need to drill the center of the bolt.... get it wrong and you'll break the east-out, you should NEVER EVER use an open-ender spanner or adjustable wrench to turn an easy-out, use a tapping wrench.


A better and more modern bold extraction tool is from a company called Alden, they make a tool called a Grabit Drillout, that is a cross between a left handed drill bit and an easy-out........ yet again you need to drill your hole in the center. And read the bloody instructions!


There are other so called methods out there but unless you get lucky they will probably cause more harm then good.....remember I do this for a living!

Excellent advice, there are lots of "experts" on the internet, with little or no knowledge of a subject who simply repeat what they have read elsewhere without any experience themselves.

i had a similar problem, except in my case the bolt was missing completely. Because the shoulder bolt isn't available on its own, my solution was to make a brass sleeve to slide over a standard bolt to replicate the shoulder. That was a couple of years ago and it's worked faultlessly since.

on drilling out sheared bolts, the best way i've found is to start with a centre or slocombe drill - has a small point but is very rigid so is easy to centre and keep in place. i've used this successfully when drilling out sheared subframe mounting bolts in stages, and finally cleaning out the remaining threads with a tap - takes time and patience, but worth the effort.

Thanks for all of your replies.

As I am fortunate enough to have an old spare hood frame I have managed to remove the other 3 shoulder bolts virtually intact by heating up to 300f but each snapped at the tip but are still usable. It appears that they were probably welded in at the ends.

I decided to take the bracket to a local engineering firm to remove the snapped bolt which I hope will be ready to collect tomorrow.

For reference the shoulder bolts are M8 (10mm) x 12mm with a 17mm hex head

Job done £40 cash:broon: