I f**king hate cars sometimes...

[LPH]

Had a Mr12Volt bluetooth audio box for my early V8V for a couple of years and finally got round to fitting it yesterday.

I was worried about removal of the ski slope, as I had read that the piano black ones are brittle. However that went fine, dead easy to be honest.

Fitting and routing of fibre optic cable was easy too. Used fuse 55 with a piggyback fuse holder and took an earth from a both in the chassis just above the fuse box. So all reversible and not a single cut wire or splice to be seen.

Tested and all worked as required, first go.

Feeling smug I decided to fit the microphone for the phone function. Removed the OE microphone from the interior light unit behind the rear view mirror. My car has the OE SIM based phone system fitted. To be able to fit it all neatly and get the wires routes removal of the light unit was needed. No problem, all you have to do is remove the rear view mirror to gain access to a small screw and then remove the light unit.

Rear view mirror is fixed with a single T30 torx screw. Had trouble getting the torx driver into it but eventually did, it seemed like it was a bit misshaped. Couldn't seem to undo it, was super tight. Kept going slowly and used something for a bit of extra leverage - and it started to move!

The movement wasn't the threads undoing, it was the screw shearing off.............







So I now need to try and drill this out somehow. Only have about 20mm between this and the roof - which I don't fancy drilling through to be honest.

Anyone know what the piece this screw is stuck in is made from? No idea why this seized.

Cheers

Edited by LPH on Sunday 30th June 16:53

[Import]

Ah man that sucks…always when it’s going so well…I understand your reluctance to drill…but I’m pretty sure it’s the only option..use a depth gauge on the drill..just under what you need..hope it goes well..fingers crossed..

[Simpo Two]

Or stick the mirror back with superglue, send the widget back for a refund and pretend the whole thing never happened

[LPH]

The 2 holes at either side (used to locate the mirror) allow you to push something through and see how far the roof is away.

I've bought these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQXQH9XZ?psc=1&r...

Some new sharp drill bits and a set of ezi-out type thingies.

I quite like a challenge

Will be a case of taking it very very slowly.......

[TR-Spider]

Strange it sheard off, normaly not a location where one would expect korrosion.
Maybe the previous owner glued it in?

Anyhow when drillingput a tube over the drill to prevent overshooting.
Maybe use a left (counterrotating) drill.
Drill all the way through the bolt.
Use a little WD40 though the hole (so it can act from top down) before trying to loosen - good luck...

[john ryan]

Use an automatic centre punch (spring loaded) to get the drill centralised. Obviously a conventional punch and hammer are less desirable. A left handed drill might unscrew the stub as it goes in. Easy-outs can be problematic on a small diameter.

[LPH]

I have an automatic centre punch and agree that the ezi-out is unlikely to work.

And I am also surprised that is seized. No signs of corrosion and there shouldn't be.

The fact that the head looked damaged makes me think someone has had issues with it in the past.

[Simpo Two]

LPH said:

I have an automatic centre punch and agree that the ezi-out is unlikely to work.

And I am also surprised that is seized. No signs of corrosion and there shouldn't be.

The fact that the head looked damaged makes me think someone has had issues with it in the past.

The perils of an impact driver perhaps - four billion Nm of torque or nothing.

[mrpseudonym]

I have had a lot of success in situations like this using a dremel tool to cut a single channel through the broken screw head and then using a flat blade screwdriver to unscrew. I can’t quite see from the pic if you could get dremmel access but it might work for you.

Edited by mrpseudonym on Monday 1st July 09:03

Edited by mrpseudonym on Monday 1st July 09:04

[dbs2000]

Have a look at a screw extractor kit.

[LPH]

mrpseudonym said:

I have had a lot of success in situations like this using a dremel tool to cut a single channel through the broken screw head and then using a flat blade screwdriver to unscrew. I can’t quite see from the pic if you could get dremmel access but it might work for you.

Edited by mrpseudonym on Monday 1st July 09:03

Edited by mrpseudonym on Monday 1st July 09:04

It's too deep in to get a dremel on it, it's sitting below the housing bit and I don't want to cut into that.

[Nigel_O]

Does the mirror locate directly into the body of the car? Wouldn’t surprise me to find that there is some kind of secondary mounting plate that is bolted to the roof, to which the mirror is then bolted.

Might be worth removing the trim panel to have a look….

[VanquishRider]

Will it now pull out past the broken screw? As no screw holding it in now.

[LPH]

Nigel_O said:

Does the mirror locate directly into the body of the car? Wouldn’t surprise me to find that there is some kind of secondary mounting plate that is bolted to the roof, to which the mirror is then bolted.

Might be worth removing the trim panel to have a look….

Yes it is attached to some kind of bracket. I've had a look on the parts diagrams for the car but can't identify it. I have pulled it down a bit to try and see inside but didn't want to force it too far.

I think the trim is held on by the mirror and the screws for the sun visor mounts.

Will probably remove these to see if the trim comes away easily and the and then can see if the bit the mirror attached to is removable.

[LPH]

VanquishRider said:

Will it now pull out past the broken screw? As no screw holding it in now.

The broken screw attaches the mirror to a bracket of some sort, into a threaded hole.

The yellow bit here is the threaded bolt and most of it is now stuck in the threaded bit.

[LPH]

LPH said:

The broken screw attaches the mirror to a bracket of some sort, into a threaded hole.

The yellow bit here is the aforementioned screw and most of it is now stuck in the threaded bit.

[Apollya]

As others have said, best option is to use a drill to start and make a hole and then use a screw extractor after letting some wd40 work its magic. Watch out for some of the very cheap screw extractors they are useless, also worth knowing the smaller the screw bolt the less likely extractors are to be able to work.

If you fail with screw extractor, can drill small holes missing sides of the screw bolt itself (so as not to damage the thread it screws into) like if you were using a dremmel to cut and use a flathead screwdriver.

[john ryan]

If the screw has snapped without bottoming, it may not be too tight. Maybe before drilling, a sharp tool on the perimeter at a tangent, and some light hammer taps will encourage it to unscrew. I would be surprised if corrosion, electrolytic or otherwise, is a factor.

[TR-Spider]

maybe that helps somewhat:

[embdenb]

Could not have happened in a worse place. The Dremel slot it worth a try. Failing that a center punch and drill would be your next step. Finally drilling it out and re-tapping as a last resort.
The bolt only goes in about an half inch so make sure to have a depth stop on the drill bit.
See the following website about half way in for a picture of the bolt depth.
Good luck

https://bernardembden.com/am/detector/index.htm