frozen & rounded caliper bolt

[sandrew]

So I bought all new pads, rotors, caliper pins & caliper bolts and even some caliper paint in preparation for a Saturday of working on my car.

The caliper bolts look pretty bad (one already slightly rounded...grrr...) so I hose 'em down with 3 applications of PB Blaster with 15 minute wait in between. Still stuck. 1 is now rounded pretty good (damnit!) so I head to Sears to get their 'rounded/damaged bolt removal' kit. The correct sized one (#4 for 12mm bolt) won't go on far enough to grab - as soon as you put some torque on it it slides off the head of the bolt. The next size up, of course, is too big.

Getting a tad frustrated. Any ideas would be appreciated. Propane torch? I think I've got one of those in a box in the garage somewhere.....

thanks

 

[me6894]

either heat it up or try to grind the bold down to a smaller size... lol not a good idea usually but sometimes its all you can do

 

[sandrew]

I actually took the BFH (big friggin' hammer) approach and pounded the 12mm socket from the craftsman rounded/damaged bolt remover kit down over the bolt head and finally got it out. I was apparently being too nice before when only using a rubber mallet.

Gotta love rust belt cars...

At least the caliper bracket bolts came off with no hassle.

It's a good thing I bought new caliper bolts and pins - the old bolts aren't exactly straight anymore.