stainless bolts frozen in aluminum backing plate

Illogikal99

Illogikal99

Member
ok, so I have to remove a few rod holders and 2 of them have aluminum backing plates and stainless hardware. galvanic action has absolutely frozen these things in the aluminum! It is a very tight spot and I've tried really cranking the bolt heads and bashing the bottom of the bolts with a hammer, nothing has budged em! Does anyone know of a chemical I can use to eat through the oxide around the bolts without destroying the fiberglass? The only other idea I had was to cut off the bolt heads but this could damage the rod holder. The previous owner was a good guy but I cursed his name a few times today for using aluminum with stainless fasteners! any ideas???
 
:thre:

Can't really visualize what you're talking about. How thick are the bolts? 1/4"? How thick is the plate that the bolts go through? :head:
 
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There it is. I put everything I had into turning those bolts, nothing... I removed the nuts and washers without issue.
 
Maybe grind them flush then drill them out stepping your drill bit size up as you go? the pic i just noticed is under the gunnel, i would drill from the top side useing the phillips head insert on the bolt head as a center guide then drill then out.
 
I agree with Kracker... Drill from the top, stepping the drill bit size larger and larger as you go.

As an aside, you made a comment about using dissimilar metals (like alum and ss), and you're right, up to a point. An Anti-seize compound MUST be used on any Stainless Steel nuts, bolts, clamps or other hardware to prevent galling and thread seizure. So, you can use them, if you put an anti-seize compound (like Never seez) barrier coat on them first. I've sucessfully removed nuts and bolts that were on a boat for 20+ years that were coated with an anti seize compound before they were assembled with very little trouble.

I've heard that it was invented for the military. Truthfully, I don't know who invented never seez, but coating all bolts before assembly was just about a required proceedure when I was in the Navy.
 
Try an impact driver

I agree on the anti-seize - use it on everything on the boat. Have you tried an impact driver? I've gotten screws loose with that simple tool that nothing else would budge, particularly in a phillips head.
 
Kracker is right on, use the screw head to center the drill, drill out the heads till they pop off, go slow, use lots of drilling fluid. Once you get them out, use vise grips to wring off whats left in the plate, drill the plate over size and use ss nylocks when you put them back together
 
I was attempting to be a cheap-skate and save the hardware since its only the aluminum thats corroded but its more trouble than its worth. tomorrow I'll just drill out the heads, hopefully won't get rained on. thanks for the heads up on that anti-seize compound, I think the compound with the nylon barrier washers might do the trick. also gonna drill out the plate to a larger diameter hole. all good ideas, all getting used.
should have seen me trying to remove the old bow rail, every screw was seized! had to grind off the heads of 3/4 of the screws... not too tough just really annoying. I'll post pics of the new rail and new SS rod holders when done. thanks again
 
I actually used lock-tite when I built my motorcycle 2 winters ago. I converted evrything to stainless steel and put the bolts in aluminum!!!!!!! bad mistake!!!!! If you were to back one of those bolts out you are gonna pull the thread with it. I even warned the guy who bought the bike from me what I had done, I thought I owed it to him. This has nothing to do with this thread, I just decided to share my experience with aluminum and stainless:head:
 
Kracker Jack said:
I actually used lock-tite when I built my motorcycle 2 winters ago. I converted evrything to stainless steel and put the bolts in aluminum!!!!!!! bad mistake!!!!! If you were to back one of those bolts out you are gonna pull the thread with it. I even warned the guy who bought the bike from me what I had done, I thought I owed it to him. This has nothing to do with this thread, I just decided to share my experience with aluminum and stainless:head:
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I have a 1973 BSA 441 Victor. Every single nut, bolt or screw on my bike has never-seez on it, and I never try to unscrew any of them with a philips head screwdriver. I use a hand impact tool all the time... It still has all the original screws and none of the heads are rounded out. It's the perfect combination for Stainless Steel and Aluminum.
 
Outboard motors are eat up with stainless fasteners into aluminum. I recall a cursing session after pulling the threads out of the old style Merc power trim cylinders. Lately I fought the bolts on a later model trim motor. I use never sieze or a dollop of the Merc grease, 202? At least you can wipe the grease off your hands, never sieze is damn near as messy as 5200. LOL.
 
RidgeRunner said:
Outboard motors are eat up with stainless fasteners into aluminum. I recall a cursing session after pulling the threads out of the old style Merc power trim cylinders. Lately I fought the bolts on a later model trim motor. I use never sieze or a dollop of the Merc grease, 202? At least you can wipe the grease off your hands, never sieze is damn near as messy as 5200. LOL.
Click to expand...

Very true, but at least Never-seez will wash off easily with soap and water, so it's not as bad as 5200.. :beer:
 
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