With Wings As Eagles: Craig P. Steffen's Blog

never a dull moment

2007 November 29 01:15

Here's the plan for removing the stuck screw in the right outside CV joint in my beetle. On the way home from supper, I buy a Craftsman rotary grinding tool:

Here's what the head of one of the CV joint bolts looks like:

I will use the grinder on the bolt that's still in the car to make a slot for a large slotted screwdriver, like so (this is my practice run):

Well...the reality didn't quite work out that way. I got slots cut in the bolt head, but I couldn't generate enough torque without it slipping to get the bolt to turn. Here's the head of that bolt now; note that it's still attached to the car:

Damn and blast. It's too late tonight for me to do anything else. I guess the next thing I'll try is to cut the washer out from between the bolt head and the pressure pad. If the place that the bolt is binding is where the head seats, then that will free it up. If it's not; if the problem is in the shaft or the threads, then having the head off of the bolt will at least allow me to continue, although I now have to deal with a stuck bolt (but in a part that comes out of the car, so it'll be easier to work on).