Stripped the screw head..NOW what do I do?

Deke

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This is on the sill plate on a 73 Fury 4 door. Penetrating liquid didnt budge it, and when I used my drill with Phillip's attachment, it just stripped out the head so I can't get anything in there. I'm thinking the Ziebart material cemented it in place, but the outer two came out with a little effort.

Do I need to drill out the screw? I guess I can always put a new one in and epoxy it in place so it looks good....

I really need to get to the seatbelt retractor.
 
There's a 2 sided kit of bits for that, I know oriellys stocks them. One side drills, the other side grips, I'll try to find the name
 
If it were me, I would slowly drill the screw head out enough to pop the sill plate off then tack weld if there's not enough left to grab with vise grips and spin out.
the plate might be a bit distorted but you should be able to tap the opening back into shape.

Just take your time.
 
Before using the screw extractor, take a phillips screwdriver bit and holding it firmly on the screw, smack it with a hammer a few times. Now use the extractor listed above... Or use a left hand drill.
 
if you have a dremel ,you can either try to cut a notch in it to use a flat head screw driver or grind the head off. be careful, the aluminum is very soft.
 
Before using the screw extractor, take a phillips screwdriver bit and holding it firmly on the screw, smack it with a hammer a few times. Now use the extractor listed above... Or use a left hand drill.

I always use Johns method BEFORE I attempt to remove a stubborn screw. There is also a tool called an "impact driver" for that purpose.
 
This is probably not an unusual situaiton. A "soft" screw not desiring to leave it's "residence". Plus a few dissimilar metals involved can make it a bit worse. Care and finnesse can be important.

If you've now got an inverted cone where the screw head used to be, then re-imprinting it with the screwdriver (as mentioned) and using manual pressure and finesse might get it to break loose. Some of those screw heads can also have a serration on their back-side to keep them tight, too.

Worst case might be to use the inverted cone's center as the guide to use a very small, then progressively-larger drill bits to reclaim the hole for a new screw of the correct dimensions and cosmetics.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
 
Good advice in here, but assuming that you can't get it out, drill... carefully drill the head, then in the unlikely event that there is enough screw left for pliers or vice grips.. give that a try... if not, file or carefully grind the remainder of the screw and carefully drill away whats left. By carefully, I mean slow drilling with a bit smaller than the hole you want to end up with... if the job is done cleanly, you should have a usable hole for the replacement screw. If you get really lucky, you might center the drill well enough to drill the screw hollow past the sheet metal sill, then carefully drill with a slightly larger drill to get the head to pop of and hopefully you can collapse whats left of the screw to drop into the sill.

There is a reason professionals paid on flat rate buy overpriced tools and hate when a job like this goes sideways... now it will cost a couple quality drill bits and lots of patience to resolve.
 
I always use Johns method BEFORE I attempt to remove a stubborn screw. There is also a tool called an "impact driver" for that purpose.
Me too. A older body man taught me to do that with any sheet metal screw that even might be stubborn. You used to be able to buy screwdrivers that had a metal shaft up through the handle that were perfect for the job. Now a bit from a power driver held with visegrips and smacked with my favorite brass hammer is my weapon of choice.
 
it helps if you try to tighten the screw a little before loosening it.
 
now it will cost a couple quality drill bits and lots of patience to resolve.
why God gave us 10 packs of these:
6608DA.jpg
 
Before using the screw extractor, take a phillips screwdriver bit and holding it firmly on the screw, smack it with a hammer a few times. Now use the extractor listed above... Or use a left hand drill.
Tried that earlier...no-go. I think the screw is "cemented" in place! Guess I'll try drilling it out and when I replace the plate, just epoxy a replacement in place to look good...
 
if you have a dremel ,you can either try to cut a notch in it to use a flat head screw driver or grind the head off. be careful, the aluminum is very soft.
I'm thinking the screw is firmly glued in place with the Ziebart material. Looks link my only choice is to drill it out....
 
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