Removing stuck and broken screws

[MrChris]

So I've managed to snap a screw and get another one royally stuck while rounding the head on one of my new hard top brackets... The screws were in pretty tight too.

Any recommendations on the best way to get these out? I've tried YouTube but most videos have "5 best ways to extract screws" but I believe these are well and truly stuck and the YouTube videos don't seem to have my situation.

[Call the midlife!]

If you can access them then I've found a left hand drill bit to be quite effective, you just need it to bite into the steel and turn the screw rather than snap your wrist with the kickback.
And if it doesn't turn the screw you can go on to try an easy out bit in the hole.

[furbern]

Patience and heat are your friends here. I'd start with a good easing oil,   I use Plus Gas or I have heard Bulldog BDX is really good, also 50:50 acetone and ATF.  WD40 not so good. Give it time to work (days), and keep applying it . If you can apply heat, even moderate heat, that helps. Also if you can give a couple of sharp taps to the screw head it can help loosen corrosion.  But then you are into easy outs, left hand drill bits, Anglo Saxon vocabulary etc. If you can move it at all either way, work it to and fro, don't attempt to get it out in one go.

[McMr2]

Fallback option if you're not precious is drill them out then re-tap, or use a helicoil kit.

[Joesson]

@MrChris
It is generally a corroded fixing that causes your problem, however this is not so in your case!

If possible in your situation and you have a sturdy bench and engineers vice the rounded off head could be put into the vice and turn the bracket, hopefully to release. Tighten/ untighten motion does sometimes help together with release fluid of some type.

The broken fixing, if flush with the surface may succumb to a removal tool as mentioned above if you are very fortunate. Most likely to be successful is to drill it out very carefully and accurately to the Minor diameter of the thread and then re tap it.

[Gaz mr-s]

Which location exactly?

[Joesson]

@MrChris
Am I now correct in thinking that the bracket is partially fixed in your car and cannot be removed?
That being the case my suggestion of using a bench vice is impractical!
I also suggest that applying heat may cause unwanted further problems.
I now believe that the bracket cannot be removed because of the rounded off head fixing, a nut remover may help, or a Stilson type plumbers wrench.
Once removed you will have one or two broken " studs" which would likely best be removed with an extractor tool or drilling out and retapping/ fitting a Helicoil as above mentioned.

Thought for the day : Understanding  the problem helps in finding a solution.