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MG MGA - Windshield screw removal

Once again I am going to ask for help , before I screw things up. I want to remove the lower left hand screw that fastens the windshield pillar to the frame. I want to use this mounting for a side mirror, so I can use the side curtains.

The screw will not budge, and I was wondering if their is a method that will free up this screw ( I believe it is brass ) with out damaging the frame, or worse yet.... cracking or damaging the glass of the windshield.

Thanks... CR
C.R. Tyrell

Try an impact tool (not air tool). You can buy them to use with a hammer and they prevent the bit from coming out under hard twisting. Try doing it up and undoing.
Art Pearse

Heat, penetrating fluid , or my favorite trick , try tightening before loosening . Sometimes tightening can sometimes break things loose.
KL Lehman

Dont heat it - you could break the glass.
Could try a hammer drill
Art Pearse

By heat I meant a heat gun . Obviously not a flame etc. Most likely heat from a heat gun will not be enough in this application . There is a cold spray available in a pressurized can that I have used to break seized fasteners loose, but again, around glass this may be iffy. Art is correct, be cautious.
KL Lehman

Soaked with Kroil for a day.... tried my hand held impact wrench... no movement yet. Repeat, repeat... repeat!

I wonder if I am brave enough to try my old auto shop teacher's method. 12V battery, jumper cables, old screwdriver... put srewdriver in screw head, then connecting the booster cables to the battery. Effectively shorting the whole thing out, causing the screw to get hot......Yikes!
... CR
C.R. Tyrell

Hi there,I do not know kroil I used the old wd 40 soaked it up and tap it breakfast lunch dinner mine rusted bolt give up after about a week, do not rush broken bolt will take much longer to fix.
sharpeys

Try the magic penetrene. 50% Auto transmission fluid and 50% acetone - mix well. Better than WD40.
Do you have any left hand drills that can sometimes work when run at very slow speed and plenty of pressure.
Maybe a better solution is to find a new place to mount the mirror and leave the screw alone. See mgaguru for best place to mount a side mirror!
http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/accessories/at103.htm
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Freeze spray-works every time-almost
BUT
--mask both sides of the glass up with something the cold won't get through, like cardboard or something
Give the screw head and the area close around it a good spray ,wait a minute or two then give it another squirt and undo it like magicman

don't spray the screen though

willy
William Revit

I find my fender mounted mirrors give a perfect rear view. Directly over the front wheel. Convex mirrors.
Art Pearse

Ureka! Got the screw removed! Many taps with the impact screwdriver and lots of soak time with penetrant. Managed to work it back and forth until it loosened enough to remove. Screw had bound in the thread.

Now to make the mirror bracket.

... CR
C.R. Tyrell

Be sure you use the correct thread screw as a replacement. I think the one you described is one of the 2BA screws.

-Del
D Rawlins

Del, it is the lower most screw on the pillar. It looks to be a oval head 10-32x1" machine screw. I don't know if is a replacement, or was cross-threaded in the hole. I am not familiar with the 2BA, and how close they would be to the 10-32 SAE.
..CR
C.R. Tyrell

2 BA is 31.5 tpi, so it will fit a 10-32 as long as the hole is not deep.
But use 2 BA!
Art Pearse

This thread was discussed between 28/05/2015 and 01/06/2015

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