Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

[Evil Eagle]

Hey guys. Man has this boat turned out to be a nightmare to work on. I am trying to get the bell housing off to replace the bellows and I have hit a major road block. I went to take out the hinge pins, and they aren't moving. before I ever put the tool in I headed the crap out of the pin with a torch. Put the tool in, and it barely took any torque before rounding off the tool (iboats shouldn't even sell these, they are crap) so I went and picked up a 1/2" allen, heated it again and while it did take much more torque this time, the pin rounded out. So, I moved to the port side with the torch, and same result. So now I am faced with drilling it out. Has anyone ever done this? Tips and suggestions? I'm curious what size bit I need to go pick up. Thanks for any help guys.

 

[ktbarrentine]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

Man! Tough luck there....I dont have any sage advice, but there are threads that give ideas, such as: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=399308
I'm sure there are others. Good luck. I'm pulling for you. (And whatever you learn, I will learn, too.)

 

[sjohnson44]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

The luck I have had with easy outs is a hit or miss. However, before you go gung-ho with a drill bit, I would try one of these puppies out.
http://www.wayfair.com/Irwin-Multi-...PA49-OHZ3863&gclid=CNKsnaP0ka8CFQuf7QodwntHyw

They work really well, I would buy one size that just fits and one size a little bigger. If the smaller of the two wants to slip a little, then take a die grinder and make it just a tad bigger and whomp the bigger one in. Buy hardened if you can too. Then reheat and try to break them loose. Sears has them and a lot of the other stores as well, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.

I would do that before I went to drilling them out and risk drilling crooked and messing up the bell housing.

 

[Evil Eagle]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

Yeah, I saw that thread. I was thinking about going the welding route. Thanks for the well wishes, I will post back when I get them out, how ever I end up doing it.

 

[Evil Eagle]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

The luck I have had with easy outs is a hit or miss. However, before you go gung-ho with a drill bit, I would try one of these puppies out.
http://www.wayfair.com/Irwin-Multi-...PA49-OHZ3863&gclid=CNKsnaP0ka8CFQuf7QodwntHyw

They work really well, I would buy one size that just fits and one size a little bigger. If the smaller of the two wants to slip a little, then take a die grinder and make it just a tad bigger and whomp the bigger one in. Buy hardened if you can too. Then reheat and try to break them loose. Sears has them and a lot of the other stores as well, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.

I would do that before I went to drilling them out and risk drilling crooked and messing up the bell housing.

Thats an idea, I have the craftsman set that is made to fit over a bolt head, and its been a life saver. Thanks for the idea, I might be giving it a shot.

 

[sjohnson44]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

I do as well, big time life saver. Good luck with it man, hope it goes easy for ya.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

just weld the allen key to the hinge pin, apy hi heat, remove as a unit.

 

[cr2k]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

You heated the boos around the pin and not the pin right? If you heat the pin it self it will expand in the threads and be near impossible to remove.

Usually put in with RED locktite and are a b to remove.

 

[Pete104]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

Hey guys. Man has this boat turned out to be a nightmare to work on. I am trying to get the bell housing off to replace the bellows and I have hit a major road block. I went to take out the hinge pins, and they aren't moving. before I ever put the tool in I headed the crap out of the pin with a torch. Put the tool in, and it barely took any torque before rounding off the tool (iboats shouldn't even sell these, they are crap) so I went and picked up a 1/2" allen, heated it again and while it did take much more torque this time, the pin rounded out. So, I moved to the port side with the torch, and same result. So now I am faced with drilling it out. Has anyone ever done this? Tips and suggestions? I'm curious what size bit I need to go pick up. Thanks for any help guys.

No, he heated the pins on both sides!

And then blames the tool!

 

[mercs4mark]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

MY thoughts exactley when i read the post.....DO NOT HEAT THE PIN......HEAT AROUND THE PIN

 

[rickryder]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

You could try a 13mm allen on a half inch drive socket.... drive it in with a hammer cuz it's a bit bigger than 1/2".... impact gun in short bursts.... good luck

 

[nkswell]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

I am having the same issue. Heat and torque are not working. Tried drilling and using a screw extractor still nothing. So I got to ambious and started to drill out but stopped because the drill was not staight and I didn't want to distroy the threads. Contemplating putting a saw between the bell and gimbal, then drilling on a drill press. I fell I am at a loose.

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

My suggestion;

Heating and cooling repeatedly of both the gimbal housing and pin bolts -- using a torch with sufficient power (Oxy acetalyne with proper tip) -- being careful not to melt the Aluminum should work. Applying more heat to the steel bolt is OK as the aluminum is softer and has a lower melting point as well. I have seen aliminum melt before it gets noticably red hot which is why being cafeful and the proper torch setup is crucial. Its also another reason to concentrate the heat on the steel bolt as you can back off if it starts to glow.

If the hinge pin bolts are stripped and you manage to can get something welded to them ( such as a section of 1/2 in. allen wrench or even a bolt without damaging the gimbal housing that will provide a new surface to grab onto and a heat cycle at the same time.

Drilling the bolts out completetly would make it very difficult to save the gimbal housing. Its going to be nearly impossible to keep the drill bit perfectly centered in the hinge pin bolts with a hand drill. The bit and taps will tend to go into the softer aluminum as they reach the outer diamater of the steel bolt. ( Guess how I know this. ) But that said -- You may be able to dril the center well enough for a screw extractor to work.


Good luck

 

[Evil Eagle]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

My suggestion;

Heating and cooling repeatedly of both the gimbal housing and pin bolts -- using a torch with sufficient power (Oxy acetalyne with proper tip) -- being careful not to melt the Aluminum should work. Applying more heat to the steel bolt is OK as the aluminum is softer and has a lower melting point as well. I have seen aliminum melt before it gets noticably red hot which is why being cafeful and the proper torch setup is crucial. Its also another reason to concentrate the heat on the steel bolt as you can back off if it starts to glow.

If the hinge pin bolts are stripped and you manage to can get something welded to them ( such as a section of 1/2 in. allen wrench or even a bolt without damaging the gimbal housing that will provide a new surface to gra
b onto and a heat cycle at the same time.

Drilling the bolts out completetly would make it very difficult to save the gimbal housing. Its going to be nearly impossible to keep the drill bit perfectly centered in the hinge pin bolts with a hand drill. The bit and taps will tend to go into the softer aluminum as they reach the outer diamater of the steel bolt. ( Guess how I know this. ) But that said -- You may be able to dril the centar well enough for a screw extractor to work.


Good luck

Thanks for the suggestions. I am taking the boat to a guy to weld in some hex pieces to get them out. He also suggested heat cycling. I'll let everyone know how it goes later this week.

 

[kleake]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

Kinda late now as yours are pretty buggared up, but I had a mercruiser hinge pin tool that started twisting and wasn't budging the pins. I tried welding my tool in order to give it more strength, but all it did was try to twist off at the very edge of the bolt. I ordered a hardened steel one from ebay and with a long handle breaker bar, it worked flawlessly.

In the condition of yours, heat and cool should loosen it up.

 

[Evil Eagle]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

Kinda late now as yours are pretty buggared up, but I had a mercruiser hinge pin tool that started twisting and wasn't budging the pins. I tried welding my tool in order to give it more strength, but all it did was try to twist off at the very edge of the bolt. I ordered a hardened steel one from ebay and with a long handle breaker bar, it worked flawlessly.

In the condition of yours, heat and cool should loosen it up.

Yeah, the hardened steel would be nice. This tool barely took any torque, I'm talking maybe 90-100ftlbs if that. The hex socket took a lot more but then the pins gave up. It's a live and learn situation.

 

[fat fanny]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

One other thing to remember is as you add heat to the steel pin it's expanding in the through hole of the gimbal housing maybe try concetrating lower heat to the housing around the hole and threaded part of assembly and try it.

 

[makonnen]

Re: Drilling hinge pins out on Alpha One

Well with the upper leg out of the way, you could have heated the part of the bellhousing that the hinge pins thread into. With luck, that would have expanded the metal around the hinge pin threads and / or softened the crap that is seizing the hinge pin in place.

I don't think I've EVER got a broken bolt out with one of those EZ outs. Heres what I would do...
(this is going to be a bit complex since you've already messed this up pretty good)

Use a die grinder and cut out a channel in the hinge pin. Use the biggest pneumatic air hammer you can find and pound that hinge pin in reverse from the cut you made. This should work quite well as the hinge pin has quite a large outer diameter.

Second, weld a nut to it. Heat the inside of the bellhousing while applying penetrating fluid to it.

Just the way those things are designed, you are going to have a miserable time drilling / grinding it out.