02 5.5 6spd. 7 of 8 bolts loose, but the last one has a partially stripped head. I drilled a pilot hole and used a bolt extractor. Long story short. Extractor sheared. I still have a little bit of bite in the bolt head, but it's not enough to get any serious torque on that bolt. I'm very hesitant to drill the bolt out since there really isn't room to set up a jig and I don't want to have to retap the crank. I have a few ideas (using a strong epoxy to meld the socket together with the bolt), but I'm looking for something more practical.
I welcome all ideas or suggestions.

 

Try a titanium extractor and drill a bigger pilot hole. Should get it out.
IDK if you're able, but you can also try to weld a bolt onto the flywheel bolt and try turning it loose. That method has worked for me in the past.

 

Good ideas. Thanks! Couple of problems: no welder(I may have to source one if worse comes to worse-budget ) and the hardened steel extractor is now buried in the bolt (flush) and my drill is walking off it. FYI - using a carbide bit with moderate pressure at low speed with oil.

 

You can weld something to the bolt then crank on the something. You can go two sizes smaller than the tap drill size of the bolt with a drill and then get a bigger extractor. For instance an M10 bolt uses a 8.75 mm drill so go in with a 7mm drill. That way if you are off center you wont damage the threads.

 

Couple of things:

Re-tighten the bolts on both sides of the stuck bolt. That may relieve some of the stress on the messed up bolt.

Try using a Bolt-Out to grab the corners of the stuck bolt.

A good set is about $50-60 at a Craftsman retailer (OSH, Sears, Kame-a-Part).

 

pretty sure the bolts are counterbored holes so nothing to grip to.

 

Thanks for the pointers. I had already snugged down the 7 bolts that came loose for that specific reason. I learned that method in a past failure.
Also, there isn't enough clearance for that tool.

Thanks to those who helped. I usually work on cars alone, but invited a friend who has a welder to come over to see if we could weld something on there. While he was here, we decided to try to wedge the socket into the bolt with a pry bar while the other applied force to the breaker bar. Success!!! Now, I just need to drop the flywheel off for machining and slap it all back together.

 

wow good deal!

 

Yeah, that's the old technique called B.S.& I. (brute strength and ignorance). Amazing how often it gets you out of trouble.

 

In the 4x world that is usually called the BFH (Big f'in Hammer) method.

OP Glad you got it worked out.