[Vwdiesel] Broken headbolt

[Val Christian]

> head gasket and timing belt on his rabbit. We snapped the last
> headbolt, and he is working on getting that out at the moment. The
> bolt is pertruding a couple inches from the block; he is going to
> heat the hell out of it and the surrounding area with a torch to try
> and loosen it enough for removal. We replaced his cracked head with 1
> he scored at the junkyard for $25!
> Ken
>

Ken,

A little unsolicited advice...

On the headbolt.  This should be real easy.  With an oxyacetylene torch,
heat the bolt to a dull cherry, right down to the casting.  Don't heat the
block (or you may have more serious problems!).  The idea is to expand the
bolt, crushing the rust matrix, which is helping to hold it in place.
Rust is not strong, and the heat is enough to compress it, breaking up
the structure.  Then, as it cools, dribble some penetrant on it (to help
lube all those crushed rust particles), and turn the shaft with a
vicegrip, stud remover, or whatever.  You can wait until everything is
cold, or you can start trying to turn things while it's getting cooler
(500F?).

Castings (the block), don't take well to heating and you could end up
with irrepairable damage.

FWIW, every time when I have stuck nuts, bolts, etc. I always try penetrant,
impact, and messing with it for a long time.  The torch is nearby, but I
somehow hate to use it, because that usually means I replace the fastener.
I'm learning slowly that the best approach is to transition to the torch
sooner than I do.  The other day I beat on brake rotors for 5 minutes.
My son, who is smarter than I, handed me the torch.  Both rotors got free
from their hubs before the front wheel bearings even got too hot to touch.

Heat can help you damage things less, and get the job done faster.
Just do so carefully.