Warning, this is a bit long. Here's the suggestions I received, thank you all
for your help. At the end of the suggestions I have outlined what I did. Yes
the bolts are off.
1 Same thing on two motors I have taken down. You can usually use a sharp
chisel, and a hammer. Just get the chisel to bite into the edge of the head of
the bolt and hammering in the right direction, they will usually come loose
enough to get them
out by hand or with some vise grips...
2 The old "hammer & cold chisel" technique seems to be called for. That's what
we resort to, to undo rounded-off old bolts. Then, of course, new ones go back
in their place.
3 I've always gotten them out using my air impact wrench. Replaced them with
Chrysler bolts which were available at the local hot rod shop for a whole lot
less money.
4 The easiest solution is the often used and much maligned "easy out". Be
forewarned that if you should
happen to break an "easy out" then life as you know it will be forever changed.
Those things are a real bitch to drill. I'd try the drill and easy out method
before you grind the heads off. That way you still have some metal to work
with.
5 Larry, go get yerself a welder and weld on a set of 1/2" square bar stock to
the tops of the flywheel bolts. Then go get your favorite
open-end wrench and go to town. Use some rust penetrant to help get them out.
I prefer GM Goodwrench stuff, but there are other good brands out there.
6 Larry, drill a hole in the end of a piece of steel scrap, then weld to the
center of the head of the bolt. Should give you a handle that will let you
break the bolt loose.
So I started pounding with a chisel and hammer, I got tired of pounding. The
welding ideas were good ones, but I had no square stock and since the bolts are
in the recess of the flywheel a flat bar would require a bit of modification. I
hate using easy outs. I had already tried the impact wrench (more on that
later) but the previous "mechanic" had already rounded the bolts. So I decided
to drill the bolt head with a bit about the size of the bolt diameter. It
didn't take much effort to drill to the base of the flywheel. Then I hit the
bolt head with a cold chisel and hammer; pop, off came the head of the bolt. I
did that 4 times and pulled off the flywheel. At this point I was able to
unscrew the rest of the bolt with my fingers!
I have some observations I can pass along. These bolts have a very flat head.
Most of us would tackle them with a 6 or 12 point socket, or perhaps a wrench.
In most cases, unless you use a open in wrench the tool is not "flat" on the
edge. For instance if you look at a socket the end of the socket is round
toward the edge. Since my bolts were pretty rounded before I started I took my
socket and "milled" the end on my grinding wheel, this allowed the socket to
get a better grip on the bolt head. That worked on two of the six. Of course
the other four were pretty screwed up.
The second observation is this, just because you can get them off doesn't mean
you will be able to get them off the next time. I would recommend that you
replace these bolts if there is any doubt.
Keep those MGs alive!
Larry Hoy, Denver, CO. USA
1967 MGB Roadster, Vintage Racer
1969 MGB Roadster, Driver
1970 MGB Roadster, Fixer upper
http://home.cwix.com/~larryhoy@cwix.com
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