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Brilliant Torx Trick

Its hard to do that to the rear belt mounting bolt heads without cutting into the belt or into the bracket being held by the bolts.
 
I used a stillson wrench to get those rear ones out when Herculining. I'll have to take a picture when I get back home to show you them, they looked like a pinion gear it was so chewed up.
 
There are engineering and production reasons to use Torx and E-Torx screws - but they are a pain in the arse when you're working on your own rig.

Lisle makes sets of Torx and E-Torx drivers that are quite good, and fairly cheap. Sears usually carries the common Lisle stuff, and most smaller well-stocked parts houses do as well (since Torx is becoming quite common in vehicles anyhow.)

Most Torx and E-Torx screws have standard threads (like the E12 screws on the upper bellhousing - 3/8"-16 x 1-1/4", I think) but they could be SAE/inch or ISO/metric threads, and you won't know until you get the screw out.

That little trick is something I've used for a number of years as "a weapon of last resort," but do not grind the head down until it's narrower than the screw shank! If you do, I'll bet money that you'll twist what's left of the head right off without getting anywhere...

Ideally, you want to grind the head until it's about the same size as the screw shank (at the thread root if it's threaded all the way up, or at the nominal size if your screw has a "grip" - or unthreaded portion - at the top.) This serves to eliminate a stress riser right where you don't need it most!

Also, make sure you use a good crescent wrench where the movable jaw fits snugly into the frame of the wrench, which will help prevent slipping (rounding off a screw you just ground must REALLY suck - but I've not done it.) If you expect to have to deal with this sort of thing on a semi-regular basis, get a dedicated crescent wrench, make sure it fits snugly, and don't use it for anything else (to reduce wear on the joint.) It's like having a set of drill bits for general use, and one just for drilling out "tough stuff" - like SAE Grade 8 screws. That way, you know they're good and sharp, which is critical.

begster - "Stillson wrench?" That is tickling something in the back of my mind. Could you please edify me? I may know it by some other moniker...
 
5-90 said:
"Stillson wrench?" That is tickling something in the back of my mind. Could you please edify me? I may know it by some other moniker...
Click to expand...
Pipe wrench

Stillson_Pipe_Wrench.jpg
 
89Daytona said:
Pipe wrench

Stillson_Pipe_Wrench.jpg
Click to expand...

Ah - "child-beater." A/K/A "monkey wrench."

Hadn't heard them called that anytime recently, but I probably heard it at one time. I've got an assortment of those as well - they're about as handy as crowbars, if the stars are right... Got them fro six to thirty-six inches long! Sometimes, you really need to pull on something - I'm not sure why I have the three-foot iron job anymore, but I still use it about once every other year on something...
 
They have one big advantage, they grip harder the more you pull. Then when released you can move it back for another go because the teeth/jaws relax. But they for sure leave marks....
 
Ya my dad has a bunch, actually a ton of old tools from before I was born that were his fathers because he used to be a carpenter. (Our Milwakee saw-all is 100% metal and all silver, unlike the plastic ones today, and it still works like a charm) They are handy because as Richp said, they grip harder the more you pull.

5-90 said:
Ah - "child-beater." A/K/A "monkey wrench.
Click to expand...
Actually, thats not 100% acurate.

A stillson wrench and pipe wrench have teeth, and a monkey wrench technically is teethless, although people do refer to them as monkey wrenches, it is a bit of a misnomer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_wrench
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_wrench

I called it a monkey wrench and my dad pointed that out to me, I had no clue, I had never heard of a stillson until then.
 
I just swapped most of mine out for Robertsons. A much better head IMO especially when they get a bit rusty you can hit them with a small wire brush and still have plenty of traction to turn the screw.
 
begster said:
Ya my dad has a bunch, actually a ton of old tools from before I was born that were his fathers because he used to be a carpenter. (Our Milwakee saw-all is 100% metal and all silver, unlike the plastic ones today, and it still works like a charm) They are handy because as Richp said, they grip harder the more you pull.


Actually, thats not 100% acurate.

A stillson wrench and pipe wrench have teeth, and a monkey wrench technically is teethless, although people do refer to them as monkey wrenches, it is a bit of a misnomer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_wrench
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_wrench

I called it a monkey wrench and my dad pointed that out to me, I had no clue, I had never heard of a stillson until then.
Click to expand...

Thank you - I probably picked that up from one of my uncles. It's like the difference between "mechanic's pins" and "safety pins" - we can call them both "safety pins," but I learned from my grandfather - his hobby was mechanics, and my grandmother's was sewing. Asking for a "safety pin" got me something pointed that wouldn't work to lock a castellated nut in place...
 
5-90 said:
Thank you - I probably picked that up from one of my uncles. It's like the difference between "mechanic's pins" and "safety pins" - we can call them both "safety pins," but I learned from my grandfather - his hobby was mechanics, and my grandmother's was sewing. Asking for a "safety pin" got me something pointed that wouldn't work to lock a castellated nut in place...
Click to expand...

Exactly, and I believe those are also called cauter pins as well, which is what I know them as. Its all a case of many names for one thing.
 
begster said:
Exactly, and I believe those are also called cauter pins as well, which is what I know them as. Its all a case of many names for one thing.
Click to expand...

Close - it's a "Cotter" pin. Besides, that's something different.

A Cotter pin (sometimes also "Cotter key") looks like a hairpin with both legs together along the length. You stick that through the hole and fold back the legs.

The mechanic's version of a safety pin looks like a safety pin that you find in a sewing box, but it's not pointed and it's bent out of a single piece of spring wire.

Difference? A cotter pin should not be reused, a safety pin can be reused just fine.

I'll have to see if I can find pix...

OK - here we go!

Here's a cotter pin/cotter key

cotter_pin_1as.jpg


A safety pin like we sometimes use for toothpicks...

safety-pin.jpg


And, a mechanic's safety pin...

steel_safety_pin.jpg


Make sense? I like using safety pins - if i need to adjust something, I can do it without having to replace the damn pin (again...)
 
Last edited:
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