Hi, folks. The seat I use when driving in LFS is really old (I think it's from a 1980s Vauxhall but not sure). The reclining function of the seat (to tilt the rear of the seat back and forward) stopped working a few days ago. The recliner works by having a cog on the back of the seat and another cog controlled by a handle on the side of the seat. The handle is spring-loaded to hold the selected cog when the handle is let go, but at the moment the cogs are not being engaged/mated properly. I think that the cog connected to the handle is worn down or missing a tooth. What I'm trying to do is to open up the side of the mechanism to get a look at the condition of the teeth, but I'm having problems getting a couple of screws off and would appreciate some input. The heads on the screws are in really bad condition and they don't look well made (well, it IS from a Vauxhall!). I'm trying to use a rasp to clean out and file down the heads of the screws so I can get more purchase with the screwdriver but don't know if there's a better/easier way of doing it. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've attached a couple of pics of the screwheads (please excuse all the disgusting dirt/grease).

TIA for any useful help or advice (please don't just say "get a new seat you cheap bugger" ).

use one of those screw remover deals, you usually have to drill through the screw head to do that though.

Yea, there is a special bit that when in reverse on a screw gun will drill into the old screw, and at a certain point it will grip onto it reversing it out of the position. Besides that I don't know many other ways, though I would probably be using some WD40 to loosen it up if I had to do it by hand without that tool. Also cooking spray works just the same (like Pam). Will hopefully reduce the friction making it come out a bit easier for you. Sorry I am out of other suggestions though, good luck.

If you have access to a welder, do it the easy way. Put a bolt on top of the screw, weld it there and then unscrew the bolts.

Have you tried perhaps using an impact screwdriver? Usually does the trick for me whenever a screw is stuck

Quote from wild :

Have you tried perhaps using an impact screwdriver? Usually does the trick for me whenever a screw is stuck

wouldn't that just shear the head off the screw, or rip the threads apart even worse?

screw remover kit, or like shadowww said, weld it and maybe ruin your screwdriver

get a new seat you cheap little bugger

Quote from Riders Motion :

If you have access to a welder, do it the easy way. Put a bolt on top of the screw, weld it there and then unscrew the bolts.

I second this method, I use it every time I need to remove broken screws/studs, but I usually use a nut and weld the internal thread face, this has never let me down. Take it to an exhaust shop, local fabrication shop, or a mate with a welder, cheaper than replacing the whole seat.

attack it with an angle grinder... or in the famous words of jeremy clarkson " wheres my hammer ? "

Big flat head screwdriver+ alot of power.

Soak it in WD40 and tap the heads with a mallet, then give it a try. With cheap old screws you must not put too much force on them and strip the head, each time you strip it slightly your chances of a neat removal diminish quickly. Keep repeating the soaking it in WD40, tapping with a mallet and giving it a try and virtually any fixing will eventually come free. Sometimes you will need to repeat this for a few days before it will free off. Use the best fitting screw driver you can find and push it in very firmly.

If you can't be bothered with the time consuming process of soaking it in WD40 then the neatest way will be to drill it out, simply drill the head off with a bit ideally slightly larger than the thread but smaller than the hole which it goes through. Once the head pops off the remainder of the screw will probably turn out freely it was simply under tension, if it is seized in still then a small easy out style bolt extractor will do wonders. The last thing you want to be doing with a seat is trying to grind or weld near it if you can avoid it, welding won't necessarily be very strong in such a difficult compromised place and would still need to use lots of WD40 and tapping if it is tight or you'll just shear it off.

Thanks for the suggestions but I tried removing it after rasping/hacksawing a cleaner groove and the situation below materialised (the head kept being deformed slightly when the screwdriver slipped). Ended up being so bad I couldn't turn it any more.

Quote from ajp71 :

Soak it in WD40 and tap the heads with a mallet, then give it a try. With cheap old screws you must not put too much force on them and strip the head, each time you strip it slightly your chances of a neat removal diminish quickly.

Since I don't have access to a welder and I don't want to buy special drill bits I just went a bit "falling down" on it and started taking it apart. Suppose I need to start looking for a new seat after all

Once i wiped off the screw i had on my scooters (its stolen for now). I lubricated it with some oil wich made the screws soft a bit, then i turned them a bit with some stuff and they broke. Dont remember exactly, but basically i took the head off and then somehow i got the screw other thing.

The easiest and quickest way is to drill the head off. So it if it's an M8 screw then first drill in the middle of the head with a 4mm drill, then a 7mm drill, then an 9mm drill. With a bit of luck the head will fall off, allowing you to remove the hinge, and then wind out the remains with a pair of molegrips or decent pliars.

If you want to keep the screw intact, then consider the WD40 method. I don't think it needs to be left overnight, or done over several days - we're talking world class stubborn screw for that - but a spray, have a cup of tea, give it a wallop with a hammer (the screw head, not the cup of tea), and then try winding it out with a good fitting screwdriver.

Perhaps a neighbour has a screwdriver that fits the slots better?

Is the screwdriver just camming out (i.e. as you turn it lifts itself out of the slots)? Perhaps you can file the slots so that they are vertical or even undercut, rather than having a ramp on them, so the screwdriver is forced IN with torque, rather than out.

It's a poor design of screwhead by the way. The least material where you apply maximum force...

Edit: The trouble with that Jatko is that it encourages stupidity. In my world, everyone would look at this thread, and think carefully about the problem, and how it might be best to undo it. In my world only the biggest of fools would contemplate posting a picture like that about the topic. In terms of engineering we're talking toddler level. If you have a brain then you can contribute, and help the OP with his difficulty. Or, if you can't think of a method of extraction, why not NOT POST ANYTHING.

It's morons like you that make engineers look bad. Morons like you that couldn't build a snap together airfix kit even if they were told what to do, when they had to do it.

Besides, that picture was last amusing in 1986.

...stop fannying about and break out the elbow-grease



+



=

What do a weedy hammer, a wood chisel, and a sheared off (via torque) screw have in common then?

...is the only pic of a sheared screw i cud find

this would work imo - find and old chisel and simply beat it untill it chops the head off, no?

then grap a vice-grips and remove the rest of the screw(trust me, I'm a Doctor).

Well I'm sorry for injecting a bit of humour in here. I doubt amp is actually stupid enough to think that Duct Tap and WD-40 are the only solutions to everything

But... you posted that picture..?

The first pic is not a screw...Its a nail. So i suggest what Tristian said, drill the heads of the nail and the srew and then with a plier remove (try its so rusty) the screw. the nail probably need cut

I think it was a screw head once. Although it does look like a hacked about nailhead now. I don't think Vauxhall used nails on any of their cars in the last 20 years

@Jatko - needless, childish spam humour. Read the thread about missing the old LFSForum, when every thread wasn't filled with spam images trying to be funny because their to stupid to add anything to the topic.

Quote from tristancliffe :

@Jatko - needless, childish spam humour. Read the thread about missing the old LFSForum, when every thread wasn't filled with spam images trying to be funny because their to stupid to add anything to the topic.

And you're too stupid to be able to spell.

I don't think my post was childish or spam. It was a humorous on-topic "picture" that displays a common "joke" about the subject in hand. If this was "my thread" then someone posting that would have made me laugh. If it's annoyed/irritated amp then I'm sorry.

Indeed, I can't spell. It should be they're rather than their. My bad.

It might have been funny had it been original. But it wasn't. So it wasn't. It was just spam.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Indeed, I can't spell. It should be they're rather than their. My bad.

And I'm an immature spammer who posts stupid images in every thread. My bad.

Lets move on.