Stuck! Extricating a Tube Within a Tube

That sounds a fascinating project you have started...

I do enjoy a bit of DIY myself, but not to that extent!

Couldn't you just leave the bit where it is and forget it? You know, paint it the same colour as the rest and say its part of it?

John

Hi, John!

Nope. Unfortunately it's my car engine, so I can't just let it be. I was changing the water pump, and the "outside tube" is my crankshaft's threaded 'pulley bolt receiver'. It needs to have its complete bolt-length depth so that the bolt that goes back into the receiver will be able to compress the pulley I pulled off back into place.

Mark

I can't quite visualize the type of pulley assembly you have, but I take it you have the pulley removed and the socket is pressed into the end of the crankshaft? If so, then heating with a propane torch may well expand the the crankshaft end enough to twist and pull the socket out of the threaded bore. Otherwise drilling as you are doing will eventually remove the socket.

Howdy, Wrench!

When I consider your option, I think that the heated part might also expand inward, and possibly be a futile effort. Do you really think it will just expand outward away from the core?

Mark

Sticking my neck out a bit, I seem to remember going through this argument some years back - the hole gets bigger, rather than smaller, as the 'tube' is heated.

Another thing to consider is the differential expansion of the two materials - if there's enough difference, you may be able to use the effect by either heating or cooling the whole assembly (depending which material has the greater expansion coefficient).

Good luck!

Speaking of ridge...while you were trying to cut threads into the socket(?); let me guess your next step is to the machine shop (with the entire car or engine) as I suspect the drive shaft will either need to be welded and retapped, or helicoil, (that's after extrication) before you're ever gonna get the accessory drive pully reinstalled. Heat and leverage sounds nice, but you've already got a disaster enough on your hands. Consider it a valuable, and costly, lesson in automobile repair technique--shade tree or not. Wish I could offer a less dismal solution.

I haven't yet destroyed any threads in the removal process. If I damage them without destroying them (I can see what's going on by using a mirror in front of the hole), I have a tap that will restore them enough to replace the original bolt. It has a fairly deep thread.

Mark

I see. How do you explain the ridge, though? Is that something that was already there? I sensed from your description that it was caused to be there by the puller's pressure on the socket; or by attempting to torque out the socket. It this a wrong interpretation?

Another thing: is there any "air space" (no matter how limited or minute) between socket(s) and the pulley-mount, threaded borehole in the shaft? I'm thinking, that if viscous fluid can be placed behind the socket, it might be possible knock the socket out with a hammer blow applied to incompressible fluid injected behind and around the socket. Something like the commonplace procedure for removal of pilot bearing in the rear (flywheel end) of the shaft. I think that force on the rear (the farthest) face of the socket will stand the best chance of extricating the socket. Sudden compressing of fluid on that aspect of the socket would be a way to apply such force. If you could post a photo, perhaps that would stimulate ideas regarding a way forward (or, rather, backward to before the jam occurred, that is).

Hello GW and the rest of the CR4 Contributors

Currently, I have a terrific amount of good advice from you all, and I have been summing it up in the form of alternatives I can take to get the socket, which may very well be cold-welded in place, out. The car is parked outside in the very cold winter, so it has to be taken indoors to be properly worked-on. What is apparent to me is that the front bumper has to come off to make room for someone to work on it; and that whoever does the work had better be prepared to do some fairly delicate removal procedures, so as not to harm the seal/rubber/crankshaft nose by heating/cooling/altering its temper in any way. I'll take the front bumper off, and then I'm looking for a Machine Shop with an indoor space for a car rather than taking it to my (extremely capable/reliable and caring-and probably just a touch more expensive by the hour) mechanic just so the alternatives can be easily examined with all the tools & equipment at hand for machinery repairs rather than auto mechanic repair.

The ridge is the commencement of the female thread about 1-1/2 inches into the nose. Hydraulic extrication would take some getting-at the rear end of the socket to either insert the fluid or apply the shocking force, and the socket is in the way of doing that. There is another socket in behind the first that hopefully is NOT stuck, because it is made of sterner stuff than the one that expanded. The stuck one is backed into the other.

Mark

Ouch: by "backed into the other one" do you mean telescoped? If so, the force on the walls of the hole could be really really high.

Nope, Ken

Not telescoped. The other one is chrome van also, but of a high quality, and very unlikely to be broken or deformed. Also of a smaller diameter than the first, and so likely to pop out easily.

Tomorrow morning I'll be taking the vehicle into a local automotive machine shop where they've done this before, and have it out (they tell me) in no time!

I'll keep you posted on the process they ultimately use, but for now, they tell me they are going to pull it out.

Mark.

Heat the outer--chill(water)the inner Stuck.Maybe!

Rather than heating the outside (crank) cool the inside (socket). Try liquid nitrogen. Wear gloves, stick a rubber tube into the end of the socket, then into the thermos of liquid nitrogen . The stuff will boil in the rubber tube and blast out into the socket (stay away!) and it should shrink enough to get out of whatever it's in. If you live in a city of any size the liquid shouldn't be that hard to come by (in Canada it's from Praxair). Just take in a thermos with a small hole cut in the stopper and lid.

Instead of using something as exotic as nitrogen. Try heating the outside with a torch then use a can of keyboard cleaner/duster to chill the socket. You might invert the can so as the liquid comes out. Very effective. Adding some light weight penetrating oil inside the tube would be helpful. There is no need to super heat the tube and carbonize the oil. About 200 - 250 Deg. F. should be hot enough.

A warning though. Canned air gasses could be flammable or produce very toxic gas when exposed to a flame.

Good luck

Mark:

The purpose of the crankshaft bolt is to simply keep the pulley on the crankshaft the key prevents it from turning on the shaft. If you have at least 1/2" of undamaged threaded hole available, do the following:

1. Carefully measure the "good hole" available and add to that the thickness of the washer that goes between the bolt head and the end of the crank. Cut the bolt carefully to this length. Clean the female threads carefully and screw in the bolt with washer in place to confirm your work.

2. Get a good pair of INSULATED cooks gloves.

3. To install the pulley heat, it in the wife's oven to 300 F ( hotter will fry the oil seal )

4. While the pulley is heating cool the end of the crankshaft with dry ice. you can get dry ice at Wal-Mart.

5. USING THE GLOVES, Remove the pulley from the oven and bring it to the shop in a large covered pot with a towel in the bottom to keep it from cooling off. The pulley should slide on easily, but be prepared to "seat" it with hammer and a wood block between the pulley and hammer. Make sure you strike the pulley hub, not the rim.

6. Install the Center bolt and washer. A little medium "Lock Tite" would not hurt.

7. Have a cool one!!

8. Next time use a socket LARGER than the bolt hole but smaller than the shaft!!

A few idea's you might want to try. Dremels with small diamond bits can be used; grind a lenghtwise grove in the offending socket and with small shizzles and punches colapse it enough to remove it. I have a dentists highspeed drill with a hand full of diamond bits that's bailed me out a few times. Be careful of heat if there is a seal on the shaft. You can use a stick welder and weld a rod to the socket for a second, then use the rod as a mini slidehammer or yank on it. If your real handy with a cutting torch with a tip big enough to get the socket red in a second or two. a blast of air will blow it all out and not even get the crank hot. Also never use right hand drill bits when trying to repair threaded holes. Always 'left hand" .When the bit catches you'll be surprised how often the problem stud, bolt, socket, ect. will unscrew itself. Go

I can only commiserate.

I replaced a water pump on a 1978 Ford Bronco. (I hate old vehicles!) Just undo half a dozen bolts and slap on the new one.

WRONG! 3 bolts shear off in the holes. Now how to get those out?

Idea!!! Remove rad to get working clearance. Use old water pump and put a hardened steel bushing into each bolt hole where the broken bolts are and using that for alignment use a close tolerance drill to drill out the broken bolts with a left hand drill. 2 came out, third one the drill breaks in the hole, now I have a piece of hardened steel in the hole. GRRR!. Use acetylene torch and heat drill bit cherry red and let cool slowly, drill out bit and old bolt, but now we are oversize. So we will tap for a helicoil. Tap breaks in hole, repeat heat and drill.

Finally everything is re-assembled.

Total labour for water pump, 28 hours.

I can match any garage mechanic for tools and machine shop, so I was glad it was DIY.

PS: 2 months later transfer case blew out, end of vehicle! Cost of transfer case exceeds value of vehicle.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR GREAT IDEAS.

I SUSPECTED I'D GET GREAT HELP IN CR4, AND I GOT IT!! ALSO GREAT HUMOUR.

IF YOU CAN THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE, FEEL FREE TO COMMENT.

ALL THE BEST,

MARK

If you haven't drilled too far, tap the hole in the socket and rig a HEAVY slide hammer. You will need to temper the heat treatment out of the socket first.

This is necessary in order to tap the hole, and may allow the socket to distort and clear the ridge.

For future reference, use a bolt for the puller stud to press against. Select one long enough to bottom out, so the pulling force is transferred directly to the crank, instead of through the threads. Use either an allen socket style or grind the hex off so the head is smaller diameter than the damper hole.

Another option is a bolt long enough sothat there is about 3/4 inch clearance under the head. (You will need longer bolts for the puller flange.) Once you have pulled that 3/4 inch, which is the hardest part, you can now back out the bolt about 1/2 inch at a time, pulling progressively. Since the pulling gets easier, there shouldn't be a lot of concern for transferring the force through the threads.

If the ridge is preventing the socket from moving out then set to with small grindstones and remove the ridge before mangling it any more, there should be plenty of thread in the hole to make up for what you loose.

Carborundum and a piece of copper rod or better still pipe is a way I use to remove broken thread taps from partially tapped holes. Place the workpiece under a drill press if possible. Make a plasticine dam around the hole and fill with Carborundum grinding paste and a little lubricating oil. Hold the copper in the drill chuck and run at a moderate speed. Just let the copper run on the socket and it will slowly grind it away.

The Engineer's Engineer

If you have access to an acetylene cutting torch, you can just cut a slot in one side of the socket. If that doesn't get it loose, cut another slot on the opposite side. If you're careful there should be minimal damage to the threads and you can clean them up with your tap. Be careful not to overheat the crankshaft and damage the crankshft seal.

Whoaaa Flicka . . . . "Crankshaft Pulley" ? Are we really discussing the harmonic balancer (Vibration damper)? Send me pics of your problem. I am an Engine Power Consultant and I spent the last 31 years working in 3rd worlds where if you drop a woodruff key in the sand and loose it, you don't just march down to 'Camel-Zone' in Somalia or 'Moreau Boys' (Manny Meau and Philippe) in French Guiana and get another; you make one from rocks and sticks. Same with tools, or (ahemm) problems created by not having the right tools. It could be I have been exposed to virtually every type of situation that has added pages of colorful language to my dictionary. Hmmmmm . . . could be why my 12 Y girl couldn't wait to tell me she received a "F---in A on her G-- D--- math test despite Mrs. Bonehead"

I digress . . . . .

If we are REALLY working on the balancer, then you stand a VERY good chance of destroying the crankshaft nose, balancer, keyway or all the above. Or worse, getting it off, then back on, and driving it when you hear a 'thud' under the hood and discover the entire water pump is gone, half the AC clutch, belts wadded up all over, and the guy behind you screaming "I have a f---in chunk of G-- D--- metal in my windshield from your car you Bonehead". Then we must wonder if his kid goes to the same school as mine.

Click on my name and check a looooong post(s) I made to another chap about harmonic balancers. He had question about Cad Drawings for an old engine to see what size crankshaft nose bolt was there . . . bla bla bla. You can send me a message also and I'll reply so we have email connections for pictures, or post a pic of your dilemma here (so I can show my kids: "Stay in school, don't drink and drive, and buy proper tools >>> or go to Camel-Zone where they loan tools to you for free [Auto-Zone in USA] ).

Assuming this is the balancer, here is my f----in G-- D--- (Oooops . . . . sorry) 30 second free analysis, and, you get what you pay for and PLEASE DO NOT USE HEAT:

1.0 Why no heat:

1.1 You may change the heat treatment of the crankshaft nose with excessive heat, and that is a bad thing.

1.2 The crankshaft seal may melt if the crank is still in the block and excessive heat is present

1.3 Your balancer, if still in place, has a special weight with counter balance properties but more importantly torsional vibration damping properties >>> a disc suspended inside another disc, joined by a very special rubber. If you get it too hot, you may melt some of the rubber up inside of the balancer that you can't see. This will change the dynamics and cause vibration later, and it is VERY likely to fly off (vibes will eventually loosen the metal to metal bond, start working on the key hogging it out sideways (new crankshaft needed) and break the retaining bolt and then off it comes in the next 5 minutes).

2.0) Suggestions >>> use at your own risk after consulting with an expert (I am not an expert):

2.1 Put on leather gloves and safety goggles AND a face and neck shield

2.2 Sockets are bloody hard. So hard they are easy to crack and break. That is why air impact sockets are black (not plated) and very soft; so they don't fatique from impacts. You will need to break it out, not "expand / contract it out" (cold and heat), as this 'cold/ hot' idea works for tolerances of 0.001 - 0.007 inch, not things mushroomed or swollen 0.020 inch or more.

2.2.1 Get one of those "freeze off your own wart" over the counter spray bottles with a cotton swap spray tip and freeze the socket until you see frost on the OD of the crankshaft nose (if the balancer is off). This drives the socket material into a "More Brittle" metallurgical zone. There is a small chance you will change the crankshaft metal crystal structure with cold also (bad). Consult your brother in law (but first check if he is a metallurgist).

2.3 Get a long chisel and start trying to break / crack pieces of the socket out. The edge of the chisel will likely dull on the first blow. You can use a punch also. You are not 'cutting' it, but causing a "sudden impact brittle fatigue fracture" exacerbated by cold temperatures. The reason for body shields (face, neck, hands) is that small shards of socket will fly off and can enter your skin without you feeling it. The chrome plating is VERY hard and VERY sharp also. Shards entering your skin can migrate to blood vessels and into lungs and heart (I have experience with this on a 0.040 inch piece of a piston wrist pin [very hard and brittle] entering a leg through blue jeans when hit with a hammer [very hard face] as I used the wrist pin as a 'punch' to pound out another thing . . . . I was 20 YO and stupid then . . . . . now I am 50 YO and stupid).

3.0 Now that you have a different perspective type of advice, your reply will be "Thanks but I got it out by drilling yesterday after 7 drill bits", >>>> so what next:

3.1 Note that the 'key' is NOT for preventing rotation, a common misconception. See my other post on balancers. The 'key' is for timing of the balance weight and torsional properties ONLY with regards to the firing impulses of your particular cylinder configuration and peak firing pressures at full rated load (torsional twisting of the crankshaft), and more obviously to have the timing marks (old style balancers) line up with the actual piston travel of number one piston. Ex: You can actually run this without a key, but it will vibrate like h-ll (oops) because it will likely be out of 'torsional and counter weight balance' timing, plus difficult to time with a timing light if it is the old style. I have run them without keys in emergency (get your 4 WD going no matter what when the bad guys are coming over the sand dunes).

3.2 Do NOT use any lubricant on the crankshaft nose to replace the balancer. It must be dry metal to metal (or check with service manual to see if there is a special lubricant). This is what holds it in place; the coefficient of friction of metal to metal. I don't even allow finger prints on the crank nose (acetone to clean it off, and the balancer). And I heat the balancer in my wife's oven to only 150*F (roughly 20-30* F below its running temp) to get a 0.0005 inch larger 'hole' before I push it on. It is a tight fit! Wife: "Get that f---in G-- D--- car part out of my kitchen you Bonehead".

3.3 The nose bolt is just to keep it home and retain the loooong contact and friction. You will notice the nose bolt is rather wimpy (thread diameter) for such a job, but keep in mind its job is JUST to prevent the balancer from walking off the front. Friction keeps it 'torsionally' in place. A very special 'pusher' is required to install it, available from the free loaner program at Auto-Zone or purchase for $50-80. Get a name brand one.

3.4 If you buggered up the threads in the crank nose, but cleaned them out pretty much kind-of OK, then we must 'glue' in the nose bolt. Get a new nose bolt. Don't be cheap and reuse the old one. Spray starting fluid (ether >>> careful of fumes and fire danger) down in the hole and blow it out; acetone on the bolt threads. Use Loctite primer 7649 (item 21348) on all threads, then Loctite 242 for the bolt threads and torque in place. 242 will allow you to remove it some day. If you REALLY want to hold it in place, use Loctite 2760 (no primer needed), however you will need to heat it to 450*F to remove it someday and I'm not sure you can do that without component damage. I have used 3-4 toothpick drops of 2760 before to get good hold, but still 'juuuussst' removable without heat, but, you could screw this up and the only solution is lots of heat. Use a similar size nut / bolt in a vice to practice this first, keeping in mind the nose is one loooong nut!

Good luck

Observe this post; ignore the rest...except about getting the engine to a good machine shop...and consulting with them about Petro's concerns. Otherwise to the car mfr's dealer.

Everyone knew it was the harmonic balancer, we just didn't want to embarrass each other.LOL

Burn it out with a oxy-acetelene cutting torch. You must be very careful not to get the crankshaft. I have done this lots of times. I had the same thing happen to me once on a 1953 Buick straight 8 motor. I have also burned out studs, and removed sheaves from fans that wouldn't budge with a puller.

Is there clearance through the square drive hole enough to pass a Rawlbolt.

If so you wind up the bolt until it locks into the square hole. Then with suitable size spacers, washers and nuts, you wind out the Rawlbolt - thus pulling the socket with it.

Gosh, just listed several brilliant suggestions, and my connection burped, so they are lost.

Some thoughts:

1. Heat socket cheery red with oxy acetylene torch. (Don't mess around with propane.) After the socket cools it will be easier to drill and tap. Use a slide hammer thereafter.

2. Use a cutting torch. In reasonably careful hands, you can burn the socket out without doing anything to the threads -- the crank is such a large heat sink, that you can't get the threads to burning temp unless you try. Replace any seal near the heated zone.

Don't blow yourself up -- all this stuff is dangerous, and burning the socket out will cause an occasional pop -- which will spew molten metal from the hole. Wear plenty of protection, and don't do this lying on your back under the car.

Use loud expletives as appropriate.

Simplest way i believe is that allow continuous supply of hot steam or hotwater. The thermal expansion will really help to untwist. Both materials cannot expand uniformly unless they are of same composition.

Fear not the torch!

No manly man would advise against the use of a cutting torch wherever it can be used. (I will sometimes use one to cut wood, just for the satisfaction of it.) Granted, the cautious approach is to use a Dremel tool with an 1/8 inch straight carbide bit, which can cut through a socket fairly quickly. (If you use plenty of oil, you can keep the chips from flying -- they are extremely small and sharp, and can work their way into your skin (and worse, eyes) easily. (With a carbide bit the oil does not help with the cutting -- and can actually impede bit self-cleaning -- but the flying chips can be a nuisance.) Use high speed and light pressure. Face shield is essential.

But what would happen if a friend ventured by while you were doing this? He will almost certainly say: "Don't real men do that with a cutting torch?"

Many fail to realize that a cutting torch will not cut everything in the path of its flame. The piece to be cut must first be brought up to a very bright red, then the oxygen is applied, and the cutting (burning) begins. At this point, the acetylene is superfluous -- the steel becomes the fuel, and (if you have steady hand) you can turn the acetylene off. The tiny bit of fuel then available (a small section through your socket) cannot contribute much heat to your crankshaft. If the threads are not bright red, they cannot be cut -- and you'd have to really work hard at getting them anywhere near dull red, let alone bright red. In fact, if the crank were out of the car, I'd wager that the closest bearing journal would be cool enough to hold in your hand immediately after the cutting operation.

Actually, if you are not skilled with a torch, don't use one. But if you are skilled, you will be able to cut the socket without touching the crank threads and without elevating the crank temperature much beyond it's normal operating temperature. Use your smallest available tip. If you are squeamish, set up a "model" to practice on, and when you work on the real thing, leave 1/32 of the socket to cut with a small, sharp chisel. To calm your nerves, just realize than for $1000 or so, you can buy a new crank.

No matter what method you use, replace the seal behind the pulley. It's a wear item and will eventually start to leak from ordinary wear (and if this were a new car you wouldn't be working on it, right?). So when you are so close, you definitely should replace it. Ditto (and especially) the timing belt, if your car is so equipped. Imagine how foolish you'd feel, if in two months, you have to go through all this again.

Wow. This thread sure demonstrates the difference between engineers and mechanics. This here sitchiason calls fer a mechanic. A mechanic would use his trusty BFH and a chisel to break the socket to itty bits . For the uninitiated BFH stands for Big ƒ∩©¤& Hammer. But if the engine is still in the car you may not have room to swing a dead cat, let alone a hammer. That is why they make air chisels.

"A mechanic would use his trusty BFH."

A real mechanic would not be in this jam!!

But surely you jest!! If you are serious, what do you think will become of the internal fine threads in the crankshaft after the barbaric behavior you espouse. This sitchiason ( sic ) calls for the utmost care to extract poor Mark from his dilemma. Please no more cutting torches.

Real mechanics get in jams like that more often than they want you to know about.
I was serious. I was a mechanic for a bit and had a similar situation and saw it happen to 2 or 3 others. In my case it was a washer that bent under the puller and got stuck in the hole. I have broken enough sockets to know that they are much harder(brittle) than a crankshaft which is relatively soft (tough). Cranks are usually induction hardened only on the bearing journals and that only goes a couple mm deep. The socket will come out in pieces and it probably wont need much impact if it is already deformed. As for the threads, they may already be damaged a bit but they are tough. He knows how to repair them. Not a big problem. Crank snouts usually have a pretty generous countersink around the bolt hole that may even guide his chisel in if he mishits. I agree, no torches. Last thing he needs is to burn up an oil seal ending in a seized motor down the road.

If you are going for the heating/cooling route & don't have access to liquid nitrogen, your local electronics supplier may have aerosol freezer sprays used for fault finding on computer chips. They cool to -40C. You can get them mail order.

Jeeze you guys , heating cooling,banging, bashing he is going to have a compleatly buggered crankshaft nose and or engine seal. If the socket has spread into the hole it is not that brittle and by now after breaking two extensions it has probably cold welded to the crankshaft to some degree.\

If the engine has to come out to work on it then so be it because if not fixed it will come out anyway. Then as i said before some carefull grinding to remove the offending metal so that it can be eased out with an expanding mandrel or whatever it takes to get a hold of it. In so far as the full length of thread being needed to drawthe pulley back on, if start thread is lost use a longer bolt with a nut ad washer to pull it on, then fit the origonal bolt.

Best of luck mate.

OK, I've had a similar experience with a gear box, weld a round bar onto the rear of the socket, about 500mm long made of MS with a threaded end, let it cool down slowly, get a weight with a hole through, instant slide hammer. With any luck at all, the expansion of the socket has deformed and softend the trapped section enough to remove it.

Hey Mark, lots of free advice, but how is it going?

Did you make any progress?

Do we have another war story to hear?

tap the socket with as large as tap as you can (drilling it out round first of course). Get a long bolt that fits this thread and start screwing it in soon it will bottom out, keep turning you will jack out the socket in no time.

I was a mechanic (highest score in USA on a competition . . . OK . . it was a pie eating contest but . . . . . ); I was a welder / fabrication mechanic (if my welding held as good as my cutting, I would have been better. I had a cutting torch / framing hammer combination which helped); I was an international field mechanic for many years (you make things in the field . . . my wrench [spanner for Mark] set was 2 inch plate steel and I made wrenches with my cutting torch); then an independent rotating equipment consultant (very independent as nobody hired me . . . . all alone . . . how sad) and now a RE ME for a major oil company (they have so much profit they needed a tax deduction . . . . me!). With all this experience at my hand, I hereby will tell all readers THE FINAL ANSWER !

******* Here it is 100% guarantee ******

My wife and I are coming to Mark's home for the afternoon. I will tell my wife "We are going to go out for an hour and look at new crankshafts. Whatever you do, DO NOT TAKE THAT SOCKET OUT OF MARK'S CRANKSHAFT NOSE WHILE WE ARE GONE !!! Do you promise NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING ?

*******

My friends, with blinding speed the socket will be spinning on the garage floor in no time !!!! Guaranteed ! OK Mark. Send us a ticket and we will pop across the pond (or wherever you are). We will even agree to fly business class to save money!

Failing the above suggestion, please allow me to write Mark's next post on CR4 below

**********

"Hi all,

How do I get a chisel, broken tap, hammer, cutting torch tip, slide hammer stud, jelly bean (darn kids), out of my crankshaft nose ? Oh ya . . . and a socket that I suspect is still under all this stuff ? And also, please advise how to get a size 43 (that's 10 to my fellow US folks) boot out of my radiator."

**********

Mark probably drilled it out 3 days ago, therefore the silence ! He got it so thin that he just peeled the rest out with a screwdriver, and about half his threads survived.

OK. Here it is, the final entry for anybody who's still keeping an eye on this site.

I removed the front bumper to give the machine shop uninterrupted access to the crankshaft nose.

The automotive machine shop I towed the car to drilled out the cores of the remaining sockets, chiselled their edges to create a gripping space, and twisted out their (by then) 0.5mil-thick shells. Only the very tips of part of the threads were worn away by the drill at the point where they had actually scored the sockets due to my attempts to remove them by turning.

After cleaning up the interior of the crankshaft nose to get rid of filings, etc., and trying the original crankshaft pulley bolt out in the threads to ensure it was free of grab, the shop charged me $100.00.

The shop owner examined my timing belt and (although I offered to purchase a new one at his parts counter) told me that it did not need replacement at this time.

I immediately towed the car to an empty garage space belonging to a client, where I will plug in my space heater against the severe cold and finish putting it back together again in the next couple of days. All the towing was done by the automobile club I belong to. I am now out of 'free tows', but my membership gets renewed next month, so that's OK.

Everything on this thread helped in deciding how to do the work. Thanks.

Mark

WHoo Hooo! Alright! Good to hear that it all worked out well, and for a reasonable price.

My only caution would be re the timing belt. These can snap even with very little "wear" showing. If you have more than 60,000 miles on it, it should definitely be replaced while you have access. There are two varieties of engines: collision and non-collision. When the timing belt goes on a collision engine, one or more valves will contact one or more pistons as the engine and car come to a stop, resulting in potentially large amounts of damage (up to requiring a complete rebuild). On non-collision engines, nothing collides, and the engine simply stops, and the car must be towed into a garage, typically leaving you without the car for a couple days.

Personally, I'd set the limit at 30,000 miles, if I already am close to the point at which I could replace the built. Routinely, I replace them a 60 - 80 if I have to start from scratch.

I agree COMPLETELY with Ken...... but add: Change ALL the belts while it is easy to do. " An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"

Noted. Thanks again, gents!

With that, I close the discussion. See you in the other posts from time to time.

Mark.