Hi all, I've got another set of bbs wheels to refurb. Some of the bolts are being an arsehole and aren't moving. They are the splined type and are m8 in size.

My questions are.

What have other done to get them off, can I get an m9 bit in there?

Are they likely to shift ?

Can I get replacement bolts? If so, where is the cheapest.

Are they m7 thread?

Can I use normal Allen bolts instead?

Also, the wheels are the gti ones, which I think are. Rx2, although inside The wheel the code is rs 272.

Thanks in advance.

my experience is that getting replacement m7 spline bolts is a bitch, finding m7 allen head, impossible! if you do find a supplier, pm me, as i want to rebuild mine with allen bolts instead too

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120x-Chrome-Spli...=item27cea38a8d

^ those won't work as they are for bbs rm/rs and the like, i.e. nut and bolt. rx2s just bolt into the barrel, which is what makes them such a pain to do as the titanium bolts and the aluminium barrels react with one another due to galvanic corrosion, which in turn can make removing the bolts extremely tricky.

Best way to split them is to put them in an over to get them nice and warm, use a quality m8 splin drive on a half inch breaker bar. If the splines strip out of the bolt, then you have to drill the heads off (requires cobalt drill bits to do this) then try and extract the stud part of the bolt.

they are m7 thread. I dont see why you couldn't redo the holes to take m8 bolts, which would then make sourcing allen bolts much easier

Thanks for the advice guys, aprecuate it.

Yeh I found those bolts on eBay too, there seem to be a few different lengths available but I doubt they will work for these wheels :( which is a shame as they look nicer

I have managed to source a joblot of m8 Allen bolts which are near enough the same length.

Good advice on heating them up, which I did try on one of them and almost all of them cam out, I also give the socket a good whack to seat it and use a breaker bar,but they still strip.

So as for drilling them out, would I need a drill press? Or Is a hand drill ok to use? And is the cobalt bit the easiest route? As they are titanium I would imagine a normal bit would turn to jelly. And am I right in saying a bit with the same diameter of the threads is best and attack it through the splined opening? This way only the head will come off and I could then take the threads out after they seperate?

Thanks again guys

a drill press would be ideal if you can find one big enough as you can drill exactly 90 degrees and have more control.

you can use a normal electric drill if you're careful.

with drill bits generally you get what you pay for.

i don't like titanium coated bits as you cannot sharpen them without losing the coating and usually the steel isn't of the best quality.

cobalt steel is good you can re sharpen them and they last longer and can cut through harder metals than titanium and normal steel bits.

So,

M7 x 1.0 (standard pitch) tapping drill size ~6.0mm

M8 x 1.25 (standard pitch) tapping drill size ~6.8mm

So to remove the current M7 thread, you'll need to drill 7.0mm, 0.2mm larger than the M8 tapping drill size, so your new thread wouldn't be as it should be anyway, and this is holding wheels together?

May be fine, but I wouldn't be so keen?

Cheers guys,

No, I ment to drill the heads off of the bolts, then remove the face part. I would imagine that then I could heat the up with a torch and remove with either a stud extractor (if it will fit) or a pair of mole grips etc.

I plan to them either use the m8 bolts, by trapping the existing holes and drilling the holes in the face plates a little larger. I have another set of the wheels on bits, so I can even use the bolts off of them. And mess around with the m8 on that set.

Would drilling just the heads off be possible? Or am I pissing in the wind?

Thanks again guys for the help

Edited 17 January, 201313 yr by dixy