-1

Pro tip: a drop of blue Loctite on a stripped screw head can save a whole panel

I was working on a Cessna 172 flap actuator cover plate in Phoenix last month, and the previous guy had completely rounded out a Phillips head. My lead told me to put a tiny drop of 242 on the driver tip, let it get tacky, then push it into the screw. It bonded just enough to get a solid bite and break it free without drilling. I thought it was a hack, but it saved me an hour of extraction work. Anyone have a different trick for stripped fasteners in tight spots?

3 comments

3 Comments

price.tara25d ago

Has anyone ever considered the long term risk of leaving that residue in the screw head? You get it out, but now there's a bit of threadlocker cured in the drive. What happens when the next guy needs to take that same screw out in five years? Doesn't that just push the extraction problem down the line?

adam75123d ago

My buddy Jake at the Daytona shop had a stripped Allen head on a brake caliper mount. He ended up wrapping a single layer of electrical tape over the tip of his bit, jamming it in hard, and it gave him just enough grip to crack it loose. He said it was pure desperation, but it worked that one time.

torres.mark24d ago

Forget the five year plan, I'm just trying to get home before the sun bakes my tools. @price.tara has a point about the next guy's problem, but that's a gift for future me. Right now, a working hack beats a perfect theory every time.