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Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:42 am

I have a 1600cdp that I am working on a partial rebuild for my 73 super. When I went to remove the old tins some of the tin screws broke of in the heads.

I tried craftsman extractor bits, but they also broke off. So I would assume mo only option now is to drill where the screw is and tap out for a new screw, or is there a better way without replacing the heads??

Thanks,
Tad Murphy

Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:45 am

homeworld8118 wrote: I have a 1600cdp that I am working on a partial rebuild for my 73 super. When I went to remove the old tins some of the tin screws broke of in the heads.

I tried craftsman extractor bits, but they also broke off. So I would assume mo only option now is to drill where the screw is and tap out for a new screw, or is there a better way without replacing the heads??

Thanks,
Tad Murphy

Drill and re-tap.

Thu Nov 20, 2008 12:00 pm

Cusser wrote: homeworld8118 wrote: I have a 1600cdp that I am working on a partial rebuild for my 73 super. When I went to remove the old tins some of the tin screws broke of in the heads.

I tried craftsman extractor bits, but they also broke off. So I would assume mo only option now is to drill where the screw is and tap out for a new screw, or is there a better way without replacing the heads??

Thanks,
Tad Murphy

Drill and re-tap.

Yeah but now your SCREWED with having a broken EZ out to deal with...

The tin screws are very soft and drill out easy... you should have done that first.

Good centerpunch hit dead center and drill... tap it out and you'd be done by now.

Thu Nov 20, 2008 12:35 pm

keifernet wrote: Cusser wrote: homeworld8118 wrote: I have a 1600cdp that I am working on a partial rebuild for my 73 super. When I went to remove the old tins some of the tin screws broke of in the heads.

I tried craftsman extractor bits, but they also broke off. So I would assume mo only option now is to drill where the screw is and tap out for a new screw, or is there a better way without replacing the heads??

Thanks,
Tad Murphy

Drill and re-tap.

Yeah but now your SCREWED with having a broken EZ out to deal with...

The tin screws are very soft and drill out easy... you should have done that first.

Good centerpunch hit dead center and drill... tap it out and you'd be done by now.

Yea those EZ out things really sucked, broke right when they got pressure on them.

Thanks for the info.!

Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:26 pm

Nothing worse than a broken off tap or ez-out to remove!
MIG welding a bolt to the ez-out usually allows you to back it out with a wrench (but for such a small EZ it may be tough to get a good strong weld). The heat of the weld helps break it free too!
Good luck!

Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:28 pm

would it be possible to move the screw over slightly and not hurt anything? Possibly even us a slightly smaller screw seeing as it doesn't have to be really strong, just enough to hold the tin in place.

I just really don't want to have to buy new heads.

Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:24 pm

I had the same thing happen on my engine when I was replacing all the seals, I just drilled and retapped. Worked like a charm. Good luck with the EZ out though, near impossible to drill through.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 5:30 am

Check this guy out....lots of heads, CHEAP!!

I'm planning on ordering a pair for my single port.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=686276

Fri Nov 21, 2008 6:31 am

I did the same thing before I knew better. (Well, actually I was told not to use an extractor, but did it anyway) Hopefully the extractor broke off close to the top.

Here's what I did. I ground down the mounting boss for the screw enough to be able to grab it with a pair of small vice grips and was able to jiggle it out. Since you have to do a serious repair/replace if you can't get it, you don't have anything to lose.

If you get it out, you will have to retap. The one nice thing is that if you drill through the head, you are only in the rocker area. Get some paper or rags or something to catch the metal shavings before you redrill the hole. Re-tap, get longer screws and you will need to use some washers to build the boss back up to the correct height (I J-B welded mine on). Also make sure that you make sure there are no metal chips in the head.

All is not lost. I pulled this off on my first VW engine and I was an even worse mechanic then than I am now.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 6:31 am

fred69vert wrote: Check this guy out....lots of heads, CHEAP!!

I'm planning on ordering a pair for my single port.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=686276

Until you get the cost of shipping from Canada! :P And then find out you got a head that needs all new guides and flycut/surfacing job etc and end up with more than you "bargained for" :wink:

Tad, When I said you were "screwed" I just meant because of the extra hassle you have to go through now.

If you can drill around the broken EZ out with very small drill bits you might can lift it out with some needle nose pliers eventually... then this is one area I don't mind using a helicoil to repair. OR you can drill and tap the hole for a bit larger SAE ( 1/4-20 thread) screw in that one spot.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 7:37 am

andk5591 wrote: I did the same thing before I knew better. (Well, actually I was told not to use an extractor, but did it anyway) Hopefully the extractor broke off close to the top.

All is not lost. I pulled this off on my first VW engine and I was an even worse mechanic then than I am now.

This is my first engine that I have worked on. I'm replacing all the seals and replacing a sp with this one.

The extractors are pretty shallow, but they did break off clean so that does make it a little harder.

keifernet wrote: If you can drill around the broken EZ out with very small drill bits you might can lift it out with some needle nose pliers eventually... then this is one area I don't mind using a helicoil to repair. OR you can drill and tap the hole for a bit larger SAE ( 1/4-20 thread) screw in that one spot.

That's a pretty good idea, the EZ out is rather small so I shouldn't have to drill out much. And its not to awfully deep in there either so it shouldn't be that bad.

Yea, I'm learning all kinds of things that will hopefully stick for further builds, I just wish I didn't have to learn them the hard way lol. For starters, like don't through away your old engine tins because you think they look a little rough, and new ones will be letter... won't be doing that again.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 8:45 am

Don't feel bad, homeworld. Approximately 100% of all of us who work on old beetles have had broken cooling tin screws stuck in the heads or block. You're not a true beetle mechanic until you've had to deal with it! :D

Fri Nov 21, 2008 5:02 pm

Quote: For starters, like don't through away your old engine tins because you think they look a little rough, and new ones will be letter... won't be doing that again.

Ya know I was told that before I broke the screw off, and of course was told not to use the extractor... LOL
This must be a rite of passage on old VWs - Trial by broken screw.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 5:31 pm

I had never, ever broken a cylinder head 8mm stud, ever, even when I worked on these daily. Then about 10 years ago wife hit a parking stone, broke off the exhaust, so I went to replace it. I broke off ALL four !!! I dropped the engine, drilled, and re-tapped to 8 x 1.25, inserted new studs, used brass nuts, all OK. We've all broken something. When I swapped engines a few years ago, I was super careful and didn't snap a single exhaust stud, and used brass nuts there as well for the future. Lesson learned.