Well if you not afraid to "beat" on a few tools, find a Torx head drive that
is just a little larger than the allen size and pound it in. Most are harden
and will cut they way in, giving you a good chance to back it out.

Had to do it many times myself, don't always know my own strength.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Young" <tomyoung1@COMCAST.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 10:19 PM
Subject: Damn! Rounded over CV Joint Bolt!!!!

> Hi all:
>
> Removing CV bolts today, got over-confident and rounded out one of the
> Allen-head bolts.  Thank goodness it was on the trans side.  Since I'm
going
> to remove the trans anyway I can just drill out the head of the bolt and
> deal with the stub later.  But, I'd kind of like to see if I *can* get the
> bolt out properly.
>
> I've seen suggestions to use vice-grips.  Frankly, I've never had much
> success with the vice-grip method and, given how tight these bolts are
> seated, I'm not too optimistic about that method.
>
> I've seen suggestions to use a 1/4" Allen-head socket and pound it into
the
> rounded-over head of the bolt.  Since I'm going to re-use the CV joints,
and
> not disassemble them upon removal, I'm a little leery of the "pound it in"
> method.
>
> Has anybody tried carefully cutting a "slot" in the head, like the slot in
a
> screw head, and removing the bolt with an appropriate "screwdriver?"  (I
> have screwdriver-head sockets, so I can get good leverage on the bolt that
> way.)  Just figure it's a logical thing to try, but maybe somebody else
had
> tried it, and can comment on how it works?
>
> TIA.
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Tom Young                       '81 Vanagon
> Lafayette, CA 94549         '82 Westfalia
> ---------------------------------------------------------------