Broken Bolts Removal
I just removed the keel from my 22, and everything went fine. One thing, is this is a big piece of iron, so be careful. I am a technician and broken bolts are a fact of life. If you feel like the bolts do not want to back out without excessive resistance, spray some penetrating oil on them and let them sit overnight. Then work them slowly back and forth while spraying the penetrating oil on them. The heat from the friction will help the penetrating oil to find its way around the bolt threads. If you do break a bolt or gall the threads on one or more bolts, your work has only began. I had a couple bolts gall the threads on my boat. I was fortunate enough to be able to clean the threads on the boat with a tap. It is almost impossible to remove broken bolts that are a result of galled threads. Usually it is better to drill out most of the broken bolt and tap new threads. Be very careful to drill the center of the bolt completely through with a smaller pilot bit. The worst nightmare comes if you break the pilot bit off in the bolt, so be carefully control your drill speed and drill a straight hole. I have found it better to work my way through the broken by using a series of several different sizes of pilot bits. I will drill a little with the smallest bit, then enlargen the hole with larger bits, till I have drilled completely through the bolt. Frequently, your drill bit will want to break just as it drills through the bolt. Measure the depth of your new bolts, and try to make the final break though with a larger bit; they do not break as easy. Your tap will have the drill size stamped on it that you will eventually need to have the hole drilled to. I hope this helps and is not too confusing. I have had 30 years practice at drilling out broken bolts, and sometimes things still go wrong. Good luck, David PS: Torque the bolts to the specified value when reinstalling them. Over-torquing will cause the threads on stainless bolts to gall.
