Help! Any Suggestions???

rrwebster · rrwebster's Garage

I was using a wobble ball head 6mm Allen to remove the screws that are inside the overhead cam housing on my 944. The ball broke...

I can see in there a little and it appears to be flush with the head of the bolt. I can get a little flat head screw driver in there but can't seem to pop the ball out or at least make it loose enough to put it out with a fairly Strong magnet I have.

Any other thoughts? the bit is hardened so to drill I think I'd need a fairly special drill but that is just what I'm thinking... any other ideas would be welcomed!

Thanks in advance,

Robert

rrwebster · rrwebster's Garage

Ha!! I got it... just kept messing with a little screw driver and then pulled it out with the magnet.... no more ball head sockets in there for me!!!!!

Ga 951 · 08-06-2011, 08:14 PM

Glad to hear it!! I did that job last winter and used ball head hexes with no ill effects. After your story, I'm afraid to use them for loosening over torqued or very tight applications .
Just curious, how do you plan the torque the cam cover bolts on installation? IRRC correctly, I needed the ball type for the #! cyl area.

AA_Ezra · 08-06-2011, 08:57 PM

Yeah, round hexes are a no go . they seem cool but it's just like a wobble extension. it looks sexy with that small waist but that's usualy were it brakes. i have broken long hexes too but to no ill affect as it usualy brakes half way

Grandad#3 · 08-06-2011, 09:21 PM

Never Ever use a Ball Head Allen Wrench on a bolt that has been torqued down. They are to be used ONLY after the bolt has been loosened and turn freely. Never buy a cheap set of Bolt Extractors as they WILL break on you.

Cheers,
Larry

rrwebster · rrwebster's Garage

My regular 6MM Allen socket is a 3/8 drive which was too fat to fit through the hole in the cam housing so I had to make a trip to Northern tool. They had 2 1/4 inch drive sockets one that the 6MM hex part was removable because the socket end was used for other sized hex ends; which would mean two points of loosing the socket in the cam housing and the other was the one piece ball ... I purchased both and opted for the ball because it was one piece.

Mine is a 944 non turbo so access is not a problem at all so the other properly taped will torque them just fine which is the first thing I will be doing this morning.

Original project was to fix bent valves due to a broken timing belt which happened under power.

vdubr928 · 08-07-2011, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrwebster

My regular 6MM Allen socket is a 3/8 drive which was too fat to fit through the hole in the cam housing so I had to make a trip to Northern tool. They had 2 1/4 inch drive sockets one that the 6MM hex part was removable because the socket end was used for other sized hex ends; which would mean two points of loosing the socket in the cam housing and the other was the one piece ball ... I purchased both and opted for the ball because it was one piece.

Mine is a 944 non turbo so access is not a problem at all so the other properly taped will torque them just fine which is the first thing I will be doing this morning.

Original project was to fix bent valves due to a broken timing belt which happened under power.

I use a 1/8" drive 1/4 socket and slide the correct allen from a nice screwdriver kit my wife bought me into it. I use a bit of tape to hold the bit into the socket. It was free from parts laying around and has never failed.

krystar · 08-07-2011, 10:53 AM

got this idea from nick at bennington. take a normal allen socket...6mm if i remember correctly. put your socket adapter on your drill. put the socket on the adapter. spin it up and take it on the bench grinder. grind down the edge until it fits into the hole..

use some assembly lube on the tip of the allen. makes the bolt stick on when u take it out