I'm sure many of you have run into this type of problem. Broken bolts are a pain in the ass. Here are a few tips to help you remove those pesky bolts.

This is the kit you will need to remove the broken bolts. These are called screw extractors or easy outs. Make sure you get a good quality set. You can get them from Sears or any other hardware store. Using a cheap drill bit on a hardened bolt won't work. It will heat up and get soft. Titanium coated drill bits work very well. It's a good idea to have a decent drill also. Mine is a Milwaukie that I named "The Wrist Breaker". It's got so much torque that it will break your wrist if the drill bit gets caught up.

First thing you should do is use a center punch and put a little ding in the broken bolt. Try and get it as close to center as possible. You don't want to drill into the threads and screw them up. Now drill into the bolt. Start with a small bit to drill the hole first and then switch up to the correct size. The drill bit is going to get very hot so some kind of coolant would be good to use. If not, the bit is going to get burnt and will be no good. If possible, try to drill all the way through the bolt. 

Now it's time to use the extractor. Make sure you put the drill in reverse. Wipe the area down dry. Push the extractor down into the hole and start the drill slowly. If you go too fast it will spin and screw up the whole process. This should back the bolt out of the hole.

Note: This process can be used on any bolt. But be warned, sometimes no matter what you do, some bolts will not come out. Hardened bolts are the toughest. If you get yourself into a situation where the bolt will not come out, you have two choices. One is to drill the whole bolt out. Doing this will mess up the threads but then you would be able to use a bolt and a nut when you put it back together. Or, if your in a situation where you can't use a nut (like the bolt that holds the exhaust manifold to the head) then you would have to take the piece to a machine shop where they can mill it out. You may have to re-thread the hole and use an over sized bolt or use a Heli-coil. We will post pics of the heli-coil for future future.