how to remove stripped screws
 

Hiya,

I just received my used Hyper 8, but many of the underside countersunk hex screw are stripped and wont come out.
Is there a tool to remove them?

Also, the center driveshafts on the car have a lot of movement in them - they can move back and forth a large amount. Is this normal for this car?


Many thanks for any help!

To remove the screws, use a dremel tool with a small diameter cutoff wheel and grind a slot in the head. Be careful though, a wheel too large will start cutting into the chassis before the slot is deep enough to be useful.

And yes, there is quite a bit of play in the shafts. I noticed this too on mine. As long as they don't fall out if the chassis flexes, it's good. But really, the chassis will flex up if anything, which means the outdrives will move closer together.

Use a dremel to cut a slot on the screw head, then use a flat blade screwdriver to remove the screws.

You can cut small sections of fuel tubing and insret it in the drive cups to take up the slack in the center driveshafts. My hyper 8 has some slack, but not much.

sorry whats a dremel again? How does it cut a slot in a screw? is it like a mini chainsaw?

Cheers

"Whats a dremel?"

Dear God....

Buy a mains powered one, or a Black & Decker wizard rotary tool (thats what I have) thats mains powered too- the cutoff discs are abrasive and used to cut through metal and bone- they do snap easily though if you apply sideways pressure, so only work back & forth in the plane the disc is spinning on.

had to quote it. might well be the quote of the year

?

http://www.gearfuse.com/wp-content/u...zza-cutter.jpg

ah so thats what a dremel is lol

would that work with countersunk screws?

These are dremels: http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pa....aspx?catid=13

There are knock-offs too that probably work just as well and are cheaper.

To cut the grrove, you'd use a cutting wheel like these: http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Attachme...Cut-Off+Wheels

Dremels or the like are absurdly useful for this hobby. You can all kinds of bits to grind, cut, and even rudimentary "machining". No self-respecting hobbyist would be caught dead not owning one, so drop everything and go get one! :wink:

Drill a hole in the head and use an easy out

would this thing work? (scroll down to the vid at the bottom)

http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-a-Stripped-Screw

I've had good luck with these

The only trouble you may encounter with any solution is breaking the initial hold, especially if locktite was used. Once the initial break is done, it usually gets easier and easier.

Those are manufactured by the same company "Alden" as the ones I stumbled onto at a General Store in town. Look similar to the one's you linked to but mine must be an older design. It was the last set on the counter and was marked for clearance. Drill-Out Micro Power Extractor is the name on the package. These little guys have saved me a lot of frustration. Before I found them a stripped out screw was almost a full five minutes of profanity from start to finish. Now I just go looking for the little black and yellow case. Just knowing I have a way out has given me more confidence when screwing them in or out. Doesn't matter now and the size can really suprise you. They have saved the day several times when I thought I was going to be able to get it out. Wish there was some way to get a skinny extension on them to get in the hard places. A little longer scew extractor could just be the difference. I didn't have much patients before I got into this hobby, have learned some but I still have three drills sitting by to power that puppy home, or pull out as quickly as possibe. Hard drilling, no doubt the reason for the high rate of stripping going on in the workplace these days. But hey, if you can unscrew the sob with an extractor. I say what the heck go ahead and strip if you feel like it. I'll come back when your done....

cool those look good, i'll try and find a place in england to buy them from.
the thing about the screws, i think the previous owner might have used red loctite on them, because i was breaking my allen keys trying to get them out

Hold a soldering iron on the screws to heat them up and break the loctite loose then use an extractor to get the screw out.

What screw extractor do I get if my screws are generally metric m3 & M4? I notice most of the extractors are for inches. Alden makes a micro extractor for metric which costs a bomb!

Well, 3mm is roughly 1/8", so work from there really. Or even better, get a metric (mm/ cm) ruler and an imperial (inches) ruler, and put them side by side.... **dun dun dun**

:lol:

Based on dimensions, 1/8" is abt 3.1mm so it might work. just hoping to get confirmation from someone who does use a 1/8" extractor on their 3mm screws.

I have the 3 piece Grab-It pro set and the smallest size in the set (#1) worked perfect for M3 flatheads.

I found my Alden Micro set on clearance at a local hw store for 16.99. Here's a better price then the clearance sale. Worth every penny. IMO

http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...m_source=froog

extractors are hit or miss, and for that reason a waste of money. Dremeling a slot always works. Plus the friction from dremeling melts any loctite.

All you need is the correct sized drill bit
 

One of the simplist ways out would be to use a drill bit slightly larger in Outer Diameter of the screws shaft . Drill the center of the stripped screw until the head of the screw seperates from the rest of the screws shaft, once the part is removed from the chassis there should be roughly 1/16"-1/8" of material sticking out of the diff case,center diff stays etc for you to get ahold of with a small pair of vise grips to twist out.
With the screw being of a counter sunk design you should hardly drill any material from the chassis if this is done correctly.

I've used many extractors, but maybe not the particular brand you have? Extractors have always been hit or miss for me, and dremels have always worked.

I should say though I'm a basher and never mind hitting a chassis or whatever with the dremel. If your trying to keep stuff looking new extractors are the first thing to try.

Funnest way I've found to take out trees is to drive over 'em. I used to love finding patches of young willows in the river bottoms and making a trail through them.