Chemical exhaust stud removal

[Dogma]

Anybody dare try this one at home?

Fortunately, I don't presently have a need.

I should mention, AvE's rather colorful language isn't exactly family friendly.

A little more info in another vid, where he seems to be testing for the first time:

[BurntKittyForge]

Very interesting, Awesome! Vids kept me up late (on borrowed internet/computer) checking whether it was joke or legit.

Probably going to try the alum method on my one stuck header bolt when I can order some online someplace.

Beats removing electronics and trying to weld on some leverage, attempt (planned) and/OR making a jig (drill bushing mount) to bore into and tap the busted bolt (with funky dremel type grinders ,etc.) (also planned) and/or replace the head or leave it alone and possibly burn a valve/ damage...
Got my vote for tip vid of the year IF it works!

Thank you very much for sharing the vid(s)!

[sharpy]

so it dissolves steel and doesnt even darken the alloy or dissolve the alloy can. Wow great stuff. Mite get some if i ever get hemorrhoids. Should fix that in 5 mins i reckon.

[Chuck Fryer]

At 30 hours, I'm out! I drilled and tapped 5 of my broken exhaust studs in 2 hrs or so.

[Agemax]

i noticed he used a lump of billet aluminium as the test piece, i wonder if it would work as well on cast ali?

[jdion81]

I was checking this out to, for the same reason. I have 6 exhaust bolts stuck in my head. I tried welding a nut and turning the bolts but kept breaking the bolt of further. I have another head so I'm going to swap it on my rebuild. I decided to do this instead of the Alum as I couldn't figure a way to keep the Alum on the bolts and not enter the head.

[Allie]

What is alum used for? It's used for sprinkling on your little brother's lips while he's snoozing on the couch

[Joe Garfield]

The 2 things I thought of were:

1) what happens when there's oxidation between the parts? Is there a chance the chemical breaks down the oxides and potentially damages or removes material from threads? Steel bolts in an aluminum head, with plenty of exposure to water, air, and heat...there's likely some kind of chemical changes going on.

2) how difficult would it be to enclose the area around the broken stud with the engine still on the bike?

I have a broken stud - I tried an EZ-out (which broke - I know...I'm stubborn) and lots of diamond bits on a dremel and the progress has been archaicly slow. I need to refresh my top end anyway so I'm pulling the head and I'll bring it to a machine shop. A top end refresh is actually a lot less work and seems like it will take less time than I imagined, so if there are broken studs on an old bike, why not give the engine some love?? The part I think is an unnecessary deterrent is the cost of the OEM base gasket.

[Dogma]

I was checking this out to, for the same reason. I have 6 exhaust bolts stuck in my head. I tried welding a nut and turning the bolts but kept breaking the bolt of further. I have another head so I'm going to swap it on my rebuild. I decided to do this instead of the Alum as I couldn't figure a way to keep the Alum on the bolts and not enter the head.

I was thinking about that too. How to keep it from leaking into the exhaust port. All I thought of was an assembly of PVC pipe and an O-ring, with some scary-looking lashu-up to hold it in place.

The 2 things I thought of were:

1) what happens when there's oxidation between the parts? Is there a chance the chemical breaks down the oxides and potentially damages or removes material from threads? Steel bolts in an aluminum head, with plenty of exposure to water, air, and heat...there's likely some kind of chemical changes going on.

2) how difficult would it be to enclose the area around the broken stud with the engine still on the bike?

I have a broken stud - I tried an EZ-out (which broke - I know...I'm stubborn) and lots of diamond bits on a dremel and the progress has been archaicly slow. I need to refresh my top end anyway so I'm pulling the head and I'll bring it to a machine shop. A top end refresh is actually a lot less work and seems like it will take less time than I imagined, so if there are broken studs on an old bike, why not give the engine some love?? The part I think is an unnecessary deterrent is the cost of the OEM base gasket.

Hopefully any interaction between Al, Fe and O only made a thin film, and won't be significant to the geometry of the threads. It seems to me that mechanical methods of extraction would be about the same on this point.

Mechanics with the tools and experience to remove studs would argue, by I'm sympathetic to your view. I think I'd rather have the top end off than fight with a stud too. But don't forget the OEM base O-rings. I think they're more important than the gasket.

[Tom R]

I've had bolts broken off in heads disintegrated using EDM, at least one of those bolts had an ez-out broken off inside of it. It's been a few years, but I think the guy charged me $30 for two bolts. The power of electricity!