Stripped Allen Screw /5 seat hinge

woodrow823 · Jan 29, 2011

Man oh man, those screws are hard to get to when swapping seats. Stripped one BIG Time, and could use some suggestions for removal. The head of the Allen screw is flush in the seat hinge, and there's not a lot of room to work!

glenfiddich · Jan 29, 2011

I've had very good luck with those reverse thread screw extractors. I got mine from Sears, cost about $20 for a set of six different sizes, and have used them several times.

kgadley01 · Jan 29, 2011

Get a set of easyouts. drill a hole in the center of the screw or bolt. then insert the correct size easyout for the hole you drilled. It should come out. It helps if you soak it overnight with Blaster or some other penetrate.

pi variables · Jan 29, 2011

They are quite difficult to get to. If you can loosen one of the hook hinges then you can slip the seat off. I rounded most of mine, but was able to remove the seat by loosening one of the hooks. Once off the bike I drilled them out and re-tapped them.

Not easy to get the seat off.

Pi Variables.

woodrow823 · Jan 29, 2011

Pi V.
I thought about that, and guess what? I now have one stripped in both hinges, on the bottom. I'll try the easyout or reverse thread I suppose, but I'm not I can in there close enough to get enough torque.

Guess the Russel will have to wait.

relic · Jan 30, 2011

If you're inclined to go to a "lift off" seat configuration, the seat hinges cease to be an issue. Here's a link someone posted on the forum by Duane A.:
http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/seatmod/index.htm

The seat without hinges is solid and stable and you won't have to remove side bags, (Krausers), or other luggage to get to your tool tray and stuff. I did this and wish I had done it long ago.

For the current bolt removal, I'd drill a small hole near the edge of bolt head and drive the screw out with a punch.

ccolwell · Jan 30, 2011

woodrow823 said:
Pi V.
I thought about that, and guess what? I now have one stripped in both hinges, on the bottom. I'll try the easyout or reverse thread I suppose, but I'm not I can in there close enough to get enough torque.

Guess the Russel will have to wait.

You may not need much torque. Drilling out the center seems to loosen stuck bolts. I have occasionally had them come out when I reversed the drill to ease the bit out.

lmo1131 · Jan 30, 2011

or some other penetrate.

Kroil

I tried the "punch" method on my /5. When that didn't work (further mangling the screw head) I considered trying to Dremel out the conical "flat head" part of the screw but didn't have the patience for the job. That area is such a pain in the butt to get a Dremel into (or almost anything for that matter). I was burning a short fuse that afternoon anyway, finally went ballistic, and cut off the loop of the back bracket... :banghead

When I reinstalled the seat, yes.... with a new bracket (from Hucky's ($$$)), I chased the threads, used stainless socket-heads screws, with a liberal smear of anti-seize, and used a ball-end Allen wrench. I considered using Phillips head screws but socket heads stand torquing better and don't "cam out" as easily. The ball-end set has become a permanent addition to my tool roll.

kgadley01 · Jan 30, 2011

+1 on the Anti-seize...

JB1973R75S5 · Jan 31, 2011

I have drilled off the head, pulled off the hinge and used vice grips to unscrew what is left.

pglaves · Jan 31, 2011

Plenty of good advice above. Several techniques will work.

I prefer straight fluted screw extactors - tap, tap into the recess and turn to remove.

68159 · Feb 1, 2011

I guess I'm "old school" and use the easy out method that I was taught 30 years ago in the USAF. Hmmm maybe I should try the new tools :blush

that have been invented in the last 10 years. I was an Airframe mechanic and part of my job was to remove stripped bolts on the aircrafts that someone else did (you know who you are).

grahamm · Feb 1, 2011

104571 said:
I have drilled off the head, pulled off the hinge and used vice grips to unscrew what is left.

+1 on that one.

I would drill through the screw just under the tap drill size before drilling the hd off to relieve some pressure.

pglaves · Feb 1, 2011

68159 said:
I guess I'm "old school" and use the easy out method that I was taught 30 years ago in the USAF. Hmmm maybe I should try the new tools the have been invented in the last 10 years. I was an Airframe mechanic and part of my job was to remove stripped bolts on the aircrafts that someone else did (you know who you are).

My problem with the traditional EZOut brand left spiral extractors is that they are sufficiently tapered that you need to drill a fairly deep hole to get them not to bottom out. Thus my preference for the straight flutes that are barely tapered at all.

kantuckid · Feb 2, 2011

PGlaves said:
My problem with the traditional EZOut brand left spiral extractors is that they are sufficiently tapered that you need to drill a fairly deep hole to get them not to bottom out. Thus my preference for the straight flutes that are barely tapered at all.

Paul, to add to this discussion, I'll say that the brand I use(spiral flutes and USA good stuff) doesn't have that problem. Not a"brand thing" as they chose me not vice versa, as they were a part of the tools provided when I served an apprenticeship in the 1960's. Cannot remember the brand but mentioned them in a previous "remove a bolt thread". Also, I'll say again that left hand drill sets can do the trick and should be in a serious mechanics bag of tricks.Far more effective than reversing your drill. The smaller sizes of most extractors are subject to breakage from the hardened steel necessary but not usually a problem if you use some caution and don't "Fred Flintstone" the tool.
Check out ebay, there are plenty of extractors and they vary . Pass up the Chinese ones as this is a tool for serious work .

woodrow823 · Feb 4, 2011

68159 said:
I guess I'm "old school" and use the easy out method that I was taught 30 years ago in the USAF. Hmmm maybe I should try the new tools that have been invented in the last 10 years. I was an Airframe mechanic and part of my job was to remove stripped bolts on the aircrafts that someone else did (you know who you are).

What a job!! That would drive me to drinking.... MORE.

Thanks for all the good advice. I haven't tackled the feat yet. Maybe this weekend.

69zeff65 · Feb 4, 2011

When ever I attempt to remove a rusty allen

head screw or bolt until I first let it have a little PB blaster on the threads and then I put a small amount of valve grinding compound on the business end of my allen wrench. The grinding compound gives the wrench a little more bite so it won't slip and round out the tool recess. If you've already rounded it out I would take and drill the heads off all three screws on one hinge with a drill bit that's just a little bigger than the 5mm bolt diameter and then use the appropriate drill and tap and clean out whats left of the screw after the seats been removed. If you hit those stuck screws with a hammer and punch to much, the welded on nut on the seat pan could break away and then you may end up taking the seat cover off to fix it and that's no fun. Use stainless allen screws and a little anti-seize when you put it back together.

Zeff

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