Hello Jody -
If you are really lucky, the dropout screw may not be wedged tightly in the hole and the end(s) may not be bent. It depends on how/why screw broke. It is possible all you need is a way to turn the loose screw. I was lucky once with this method:
* If the screw is not lubed, hit it with penetrating oil (e.g. WD-40). * Cut both ends off a spoke or similar rod that can fit into the hole. The (spoke) tool length needs to be about 2 inches long if driving from the end of the dropout and longer if driving from the other direction. You want the outer spoke end to be rough but not extending beyond the side of the spoke. This way the spoke won't damage the dropout threads. * Chuck the tool in a variable speed drill. * Have you assistant cross his/her fingers. * Push the tool hard against one of the broken ends and drill slowly. No joy? try driving it from the other direction. Still nothing? Try filing the spoke end into a screwdriver shape.
I also was able to remove a automobile water pump bolt this way after breaking it off in the engine block. Same technique but with everything scaled up in size, the "tool" was the broken end of a drill bit. (In my middle-teen years I had a lot of broken things just lying about, it may have been no coincidence that my Dad called me "The Destroyer".) Here, much to my surprise (and defying one or two laws of physics), I was able to reverse the broken piece while pushing down on the bolt. A poor-man's easyout.
Good Luck
Skip Echert Renton, WA vintage-trek.com
At 07:50 PM 6/30/02 -0700, you wrote:
>Here's a plea for help going out to the frame guys: I broke off a dropout
>screw just as the end was reaching the dropout. Now the bad news: the
>screw broke off nearly flush on the other side. What do I do now? Drill
>and E-Z out? Any recommendations? Thanks.
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>Breakin' 'em off in Freedom, CA
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>Jody
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>--- Jose Fonseca
>
>--- locortjody@earthlink.net
>
>--- EarthLink: It's your Internet.