Sheared Thermostat bolts

[secubis3]

Me thinks me done wrong again dad!!!!
Removing the thermostat housing, bolt No 1 came out no problem, bolt No 2 & 3 are attached to the engine support. I tried to slacken them by a turn or two and Snap :censored::censored::censored: the bolt head came off:banghead:
Does this mean I need to drill it out in situ?
Can I remove the other bolt without touching the engine support as the manual says the support must come off!!!!!

Cheers
S

[snakestamper]

What engine is this?

[secubis3]

It's a 1.3 Clubman Reg 1989
Two bolts are attached to the left hand side engine bracket support

[maestro vans]

Not sure on the clubman, put a trolley jack under the sump, with a lump of wood to spread the load, support the engine with this, remove the engine support bracket. Now the trick is to lay up the threads with plusgas over night. Due to indifferent metals, ie steel bolts and aluminium thermostat housing, the bolts will be in there pretty dammn tight. Once you have laid it up over night, get a rubber mallet and give the housing some gentle persusaion to remove it, sometimes heat from a blowtorch ir a hot a gun is good too. Be careful with the blowtorch as aluminium has a low melting point and you dont want to bugger the housing. One you have got the housing off. Again lay up the threads that go into the cylinder head, use a pair of mole grips and turn while heating the head with a blowtorch or hot air gun. A lot of time and patience and they will come out.
Good luck let us know how u get on

maestro vans

[steve smith]

u should ba ale to remove the bracket and the housing and then beable to use a stud remover to wind out the remains of the bolts ledburys dont have that bracket so i didnt have that trouble when i changed mine

[secubis3]

I've huffed and puffed and thrashed the bolts with a rolled up copy of womans weekly with a soggy end, an still they won't move:banghead:
Anyone know where I can get a new set of bolts as I feel it easier to drill the bolts, just hope I don't crack the thermostat housing!

[edders1690]

I've huffed and puffed and thrashed the bolts with a rolled up copy of womans weekly with a soggy end, an still they won't move:banghead:
Anyone know where I can get a new set of bolts as I feel it easier to drill the bolts, just hope I don't crack the thermostat housing!

When I did a similar job a few years back I also snapped one of the bolt heads off. So I cut off the remaining heads and was then able to remove the thermostat housing. After soaking the bolts with penetrating oil and leaving overnight I was then able to get a pair of mole grips onto the section of bolt left and remove them that way. Hope this might be of some help.

Ray

[Jumturbo]

I've got a similar problem with my monty turbo, but with the dizzy cap. A few years ago I chewed the head of one of the two philips screws that hold the cap to the head. Luckily the other screw came out ok. I ended up drilling the dodgy screw head off, but left the rest of the screw in as a locating dowel. I then made up a heavy duty clamp/bracket which fixes via a manifold nut and clamps the dizzy to the head on the location of the dodgy screw/dowel. I know this will not work for the thermostat housing, but the reason I'm mentioning it is because the other week I tried to remove the other screw but this is now siezed in! I'm scared of chewing the other screw head, so am leaving it for now while I ponder a solution!:idea:
Boy have I had it up to my neck with siezed screws and bolts lately ( see thread 'what a terrible day!'). The moral is, always use copper grease when re-assembling anything!

[secubis3]

When I did a similar job a few years back I also snapped one of the bolt heads off. So I cut off the remaining heads and was then able to remove the thermostat housing. After soaking the bolts with penetrating oil and leaving overnight I was then able to get a pair of mole grips onto the section of bolt left and remove them that way. Hope this might be of some help.

Ray

I have tried everything but still no luck.
So if I remove the head from the bolt, will I be able to lift the thermostat housing off...with some huffing and puffing... and leave the bolt screws in and remove them that way???

sorry if it sounds daft or simple but I have only one housing and I do not want to break it!!!!!

Cheers
S

[henocsr]

all new bits can be got from here

www.minispares.co.uk