Oil Filter Cover Bolt

[purenergy]

I'm bringing an old 79E back to life and encountered a stripped bolt head while attempting to replace the oil filter. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to goet it off?

[dorkpunch]

a good pair of vise grips. worked for me!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there PureEnergy,

There are many approaches to this. I recently encountered same, and was able to get it with a Gator Grip socket! First, get some PB Blaster (liquid wrench type product, but better!), and spray on it, then take a hammer and lightly tap/pound on it to help the vibrations to let the penetrating oil to get in!

You can take a Dremmel and grind a pair of flat sides on it to be able to better get a grip with a wrench. You can get new ones cheaply from JCW, or Partsnmore for $6.00 plus shipping(free if $30 or more order before June)!
T.C.

[purenergy]

Thanks for the tips. I tried visegrips but it is completely rounded off and all I'm doing is peeling off more of the bolt. It is very soft metal. I'll try the PB blaster and hope that I have better luck. Thanks again for the help.

[Ken Talbot]

Another way is to tack weld a large not onto the rounded-off remains of the bolt head. Once you get it off, finish welding it up, grind it smooth and pretty, and you've got a 'better than new' oil filter bolt.

[GNEPIG]

wow, great idea! also the heat from the welding will help loosen up the bolt... be carful not to miss and weld on the aluminum- smokes holes in that stuff really fast
bet you cant guess how i know that one

[John]

If you have a die grinder, or a cut off tool, just grind the head off, slip the filter cup down over the shaft off the bolt, and buy a new bolt. There is a lot of metal right there, so don't worry about grinding through . Don't get spastic with the grider though. Installing a drain plug in the cup also helps to avoid a mess when doing an oil change. Thats what I have done. I ground off one of the fins behind the bolt, and drilled and tapped the cup to accept a 1/8 pipe plug, but I'm going to alter it to accept a 1/4 inch pipe plug./ It will drain faster that way.