Extracting Those Pesky Screws

[Bucky]

just a bit curious to find out how you guys get these screws out, when they seem to be stripped. I finally got one out, but the other one is just spinning in the hole!! LOL

 

i know of a couple methods, but those would require the use of a claw hammer, or a pair of vice grips.

This '68 Coronet gluebomb is too delicate for that!

[GLMFAA1]

1.Use a little heat to the screw (don't melt the plastic) and use one of these screwdrivers to grip the screw

2.Slip some thread (dental floss) under the head of the screw, give it a wrap and then pull

greg

[ChrisBcritter]

Or put it in the freezer overnight so the screw shrinks a bit, and you may be able to lift it out with tweezers.

[Snake45]

If it's stripped and spinning in the hole, it's not holding anything. Your chassis must be glued somewhere. 

[DonW]

34 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

If it's stripped and spinning in the hole, it's not holding anything. Your chassis must be glued somewhere. 

Nice lateral thinking.

Reminds me of this:

 

[Bucky]

I finally got it out far enough to grab it with my small pliers. Chassis wasn't glued. There was a lot of built up styrene dust in the threads on both screws. They may have been in there for around 50 years. That probably didn't have anything to do with 'em being stripped, though. LoL

[TarheelRick]

9 minutes ago, Bucky said:

I finally got it out far enough to grab it with my small pliers. Chassis wasn't glued. There was a lot of built up styrene dust in the threads on both screws. They may have been in there for around 50 years. That probably didn't have anything to do with 'em being stripped, though. LoL

Glad you got them out.  I would say the stripping came from the original owner taking one more turn with the screwdriver just to make sure it was tight enough. I speak from experience from my earlier years of modeling.

[Bucky]

51 minutes ago, TarheelRick said:

Glad you got them out.  I would say the stripping came from the original owner taking one more turn with the screwdriver just to make sure it was tight enough. I speak from experience from my earlier years of modeling.

That thought did cross my mind. I think I may have done that, myself, back in the day! LoL

[espo]

2 hours ago, DonW said:

Nice lateral thinking.

Reminds me of this:

 

I'm still wiping away the tears from laughing. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

In the future Keith, there is a pretty simple way to remove stripped screws without any fancy tools required.

All you need are 2 flat blade screw drivers.

If a particular screw, (or screws) are stripped, simply slip the blade of a flat screw driver under the chassis some place, (there is always somewhere that you can do this) and very lightly pry up as you back out the screws with the other screw driver.

As the screws begin to release and you have space to get a finger tip between the body and the chassis, you can pull up on the chassis as you back out the screws.

 

What it basically boils down to, is that all you need to do is add some light pressure under the chassis plate to assist the screws.

I have removed a lot of stripped screws, and this works every time as long as the chassis is not glued in place.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Deuces ll]

4 hours ago, espo said:

I'm still wiping away the tears from laughing. 

That was funny!.. ??

[Bucky]

3 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

In the future Keith, there is a pretty simple way to remove stripped screws without any fancy tools required.

All you need are 2 flat blade screw drivers.

If a particular screw, (or screws) are stripped, simply slip the blade of a flat screw driver under the chassis some place, (there is always somewhere that you can do this) and very lightly pry up as you back out the screws with the other screw driver.

As the screws begin to release and you have space to get a finger tip between the body and the chassis, you can pull up on the chassis as you back out the screws.

 

What it basically boils down to, is that all you need to do is add some light pressure under the chassis plate to assist the screws.

I have removed a lot of stripped screws, and this works every time as long as the chassis is not glued in place.

 

 

 

 

Steve

I actually did something similar to this method. I was able to get a very small flat blade screwdriver under the head of the screw. I put just enough pressure on the gas tank to get some lift on the screw. Another screwdriver backed the screw out enough to grab it with the small pliers.

These are all great tips, and I'm sure I will use them on a future rebuild. Thanks, guys!!