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I'm stuck trying to replace the rear lower control arms on my 92 Civic. One of the bolts was broken, and while I've now gotten the old arm off by taking a Dremel to the bushing and bolt, part of the bolt is still stuck in the nut that's welded onto the piece it goes through. That piece is actually part of the shock/strut, so in theory I could take it off and replace it, but I'd rather not do that. I've tried penetrating oil, heat, hammering, vise grips, and most recently, cutting the end of the bolt partly-flat (using the Dremel) so I could put an adjustable wrench around it to turn it, and nothing moves it. What options do I have left? I would try welding a nut onto the end to turn it, but I don't have any equipment or experience welding.

By the way, I also tried drilling through the middle of the bolt, but the only drill I have is the Dremel and its bit wasn't doing anything to the bolt...

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I ended up just taking off the shock so I could work with it better, then using the Dremel to cut off the welded-on nut that the broken bolt was stuck in. Then it was just a matter of putting it back together with a new nut and bolt.

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Get a real drill and drill a pilot hole in the center.

Then use an easy out drill bit with the drill in reverse to bite into the bolt and rotate it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMrDYJvY0Ts

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    I've heard really bad things about easy-outs -- basically, that they're only for use when the bolt is just broken but not stuck/rusted-in. Have you used them successfully in this case? Everything I found online said you'll just break off the easy-out in the bolt and make it even harder to get out.
    – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
    Mar 31, 2013 at 22:58
  • I could see the threads stripping out of the easy out before the actual easyout breaks. They are supposed to be made of a very high strength steel but I guess that might them brittle if you don't torque them the right way. I have never used one on a severely rusted bolt but honestly I doubt it would make the situation any worse.
    – Mike Saull
    Apr 1, 2013 at 15:16
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This happened to me as well with my ek...ON BOTH SIDES... I spent 6 hours grinding, drilling and cutting before I got the bolt and the round tap nut off the first time, the second only took 2 hours since I knew what I was doing from Before,then I just replaced them with a new nut and bolt, just make sure they're the right size or they'll back themselves out when driving which is potentially disastrous...

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