Tail Light Housing Screw Removal

[frankc]

When removing the back cover from my tail light housing, one of the screws snapped off. I tried drilling into the remaining piece so that I could use an extractor, but that was very slow going, and given the small diameter of the screw, I'm thinking a drill press may be better than trying to do this by hand.

Any other suggestions besides the normal extractor - if I can find one this small?

[Cooper911SC]

I agree, nice sharp drill bit and drill press are probably best.

Bottoming tap to clean up threads.

[strikee]

I had exactly the same problem. Have a look through my old threads, my picture is identical.

I tried a few drill bits but nothing seemed to work, just kept on slipping, probably as I dont have a press. I found a reverse thread extractor that said it did 3mm but it was a total waste of time.

I considered taking it to a machine shop but I reckoned the cost to be the same as replacing. $50 bucks should get you a reasonable one from the for sale section.

I hope you have better luck than I.

Ed

[pegasus9]

This is why I took a dremel to mine from the underside. Literally off in less than one minute.

[86911tlcab]

did you dremel off the piece and retap a new hole?

[frankc]

There is a drill press at work I can use - I'll give that a try. The tail light is in good condition otherwise, so I hate to give up on it. I have stainless steel replacement screws so hopefully this will never be a problem again.

Slasher,
I'm not sure what you mean by "from the underside". Are you saying you simply cut the heads off the two screws to remove the cover? Or did you drill in from the reflector side?

[pegasus9]

The retaining clip side of the screw was stuck and would not budge. So I went under the car, located it and cut it off.
Safety goggles and mask for safety of course, but I was literally done in an instant.
Good luck!!

[sparkle84]

I think Slasher must be referring to the screws that hold the whole unit in. The screw you broke is a common thing & trying to drill them out is very difficult. What I did is drill a couple holes on an angle at the end of the back cover & thru the body of the main unit & used sheet metal screws. Not pretty but works fine.

[RWebb]

left handed drill bit

[daleflesburg]

First you need a smaller drill, and a great drill, very hard and very sharp, not a hardware store drill. Go very slow or it will snap. I'd order a couple from McMaster Carr. I'd say 1/32" or smaller. Then step up to say 3/64". At some point you will be able to get an extractor in and back out the broken bolt.

[boyt911sc]

The picture of the broken screws looks exactly what I had on the Carrera taillights that I worked on this summer. Getting the pilot hole centered was not easy to begin with. So I fabricated a tube with similar ID as that of the posts OD (taillight housing) with a plug that had a 1/8" hole at the center. Then I used this contraption similar to exhaust stud replacement procedure. Drilled the desired hole and tap it.

Tony