stripped and rusted screws

so for some god awful reason, GM used phillips, counter sunk (lug nut taper like), 1/4 fine thread screws to hold all the hardware for the tailgate on. someone in the trucks history was nice enough to strip all the screw heads out. not horribly, but enought that im concerned about their removal. they are either very toght, or quite rusted in place. roughly a #2 size phillips head. i was able to get a few out, but not nearly all of them. with the countersunk heads, i cant get vice grips on them. or cut slots in them without destroying the surrounding material, which is NLA.

so, what would you guys do? gotta get it all off so we can remove the tailgate and paint the jambs, etc. also, iw ant to restore all the latches/straps/adjusters/etc.

i know i can drill them out, but would prefer trying everything short of that first due to my previous failures at drilling out fasteners.

Impact driver?

http://www.amazon.com/Vibra-TITE-470-DriveGrip-Anti-Cam-Fluid/dp/B008RMT63A

I've been there. You need one of these (although I can't vouch for HF)

http://www.harborfreight.com/impact-screwdriver-set-with-case-37530.html

Impact screwdriver.

Dang, too slow!

ICE:

If that fails you could give this a shot:

http://www.thegrabitstore.com/Pages/howtouse.aspx

Disclaimer: I have never used this product and can't comment on how well it works.

Grab some 1/4-20 nuts and weld em to the face of the screw. Not only will it give a good thing to grab on the heat will help loosen any rust on the bolt threads.

bgkast wrote: Dang, too slow!

Yours looks better. I'm not sure I'd want to whack anything from HF with a hammer. Using their stuff -as- a hammer is totally acceptable.

I once used a product that was similar to a valve lapping compound that came in an orajel sized tube. it was put into the screw head to help the tool grip the fastener.I don't remember the name, Drive grip maybe? This stuff used with an impact driver and liberal amounts of weezlpee may be helpful .

TRoglodyte wrote: I once used a product that was similar to a valve lapping compound that came in an orajel sized tube. it was put into the screw head to help the tool grip the fastener.I don't remember the name, Drive grip maybe? This stuff used with an impact driver and liberal amounts of weezlpee may be helpful .

Yep, the stuff I linked in the second post.

N Sperlo wrote: ICE:

Get those frickin' things out of this thread! Those should be renamed "easy-get-hardened-shards-of-metal-stuck-in-a-hole's"

In reply to tuna55:

I think that's the old HF version. I have two and they work fine as long as you have them set to "lefty loosy".

tuna55 wrote:

N Sperlo wrote: ICE:

Get those frickin' things out of this thread! Those should be renamed "easy-get-hardened-shards-of-metal-stuck-in-a-hole's"

+1000

A brief "brapppp" with an air hammer with the pressure turned down will help knock them loose.

shotgun?

Seriously, drill the heads off and they'll pop loose. Dismantle the tailgate parts and then you can cut a slot in the remaining portion of the screws if you need to, though I suspect you could grab the remainder and spin them by hand once the tension is removed.

Use lots of PB Blaster and heat to help them move. After applying the heat and PB Blaster, try turning the screw slightly tighter to help break the surface tension and rust before removing them with the impact driver.

Good luck.

It's not that bad Michael, You saw how rusty my truck was on the build thread. parts of the tailgate are now on our Lemons car. To get those screws off the gate, we just used a few good whacks with that impact driver. They all came right off intact.

In reply to EvanB:

FYI I'm a dealer/distributor for Drive Grip(and their other related products as well). I'm certainly a fan, and it's the first thing I reach for when dealing with a questionable Phillips-head fastener. That said, based on the OP's description, this sounds like the perfect job for an impact screwdriver as shown above.

tuna55 wrote:

bgkast wrote: Dang, too slow!

Yours looks better. I'm not sure I'd want to whack anything from HF with a hammer. Using their stuff -as- a hammer is totally acceptable.

True story: I bought a set of long punches from HF, and later was putting siding on my garage. I used two tools to help drive the siding nails in: the biggest of the punches from HF and a grade-8 bolt. The bolt ended up getting used a lot more since it was more comfortable to hold. After driving in hundreds and hundreds of nails, the bolt looked like new but with the grade markings mashed pretty flat. The HF punch? Cracked down the length of it. Hm. Nothing like quality steel to give you confidence in a tool.

In reply to petegossett:

We sell it at the distributor where I work and I have heard good things about it. Didn't know if it would help the impact driver in this case but the impact driver is a must.

EvanB wrote: In reply to petegossett: We sell it at the distributor where I work and I have heard good things about it. Didn't know if it would help the impact driver in this case but the impact driver is a must.

It will help the impact driver a bunch. I have used it before and it is awesomesauce for a bodged screw. I wanna buy some . can someone pm me please?

I've used these with some success: X-Out

For screws such as you describe, I have had very good luck with this product:

http://www.amazon.com/Alden-8430P-Grabit-Damaged-Extractor/dp/B000H6PM32

No need to drill very deep, just enough for the bit to grab, then back it out. Works fine with a cordless drill/driver.

Can you use a stud-welder dent puller gun and weld a stud on each screw then either bend it over turning it into a mini wrench or put a Vice-Grip on it?

use a good screwdriver- Craftsman or Husky brand, at least- and turn gently out as you push in as hard as you can.. sometimes a good whack on the screwdriver will bust the screws loose..

Snap-On screwdrivers have a hex on the shank you can put a wrench to, and are awesome. But an impact driver is what you really need here.