[The Silent Master]

I am having some trouble repairing some broken vintage figures. I need to replace the o-ring but the screw in the back is rusted and will not grip on my screw driver. Any tips for this situation? Are the figures unrepairable?

[tuan_tran73]

If screw is not worned out, WD40 would help.

[BigErn]

If the screw is worn out I've heard you can drill it out but I've never tried it.

[xhairs]

yes you can drill the tip off and use a pair of pliers to un screw it.

[pain]

They actually sell screwdrivers with tips that are specifiaclly used to remove damaged, stripped, or rusty screws.

First, you turn right slightly to tighten it. This digs the cutters into the screw. Then, you turn left to remove the screw.

Any Home Depot or Lowe's should have them.

[Scoop]

Be very careful when using the "drill" method. I tried it on my vintage Spirit and pretty much ruined him. You are supposed to use the drill with it set to reverse just so the screw doesn't get tighter and go in deeper. Well I did that, but I must have been pushing down too hard or something because the screw still went in deeper. I ended up cracking the post the holds the screw inside the torso as well as the tube and hole the screw fits through on the back of the torso. Luckily I didn't crack the whole thing. After I replaced the O-ring I had to put the screw back in at an angle to catch whatever was left of the post that holds the screw. You can't notice it from the front of Spirit, but his back looks ugly inside the hole. In my opinion he is ruined. Hopefully one day I can find a nice looking replacement torso without any damage, paint lost or discoloration.

[ceraurus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scoop

...his back looks ugly inside the hole...

heh heh

[Shogi]

I too have a horror story about using a drill. The screw was so stripped that the drill bit created so much friction that all the plastic around the screw got warped by the heat

[DPrime]

I haven't really had any problems with the drilling method, you just have to take it slow.

The only problems I've had were with some really, REALLY stuck screws that just wouldn't come out. When the head of the screw came off, I still couldn't get the rest out with plyers. Luckily it only happened on leg pieces, and only with a couple of figures. I figure the parts will be easy enough to replace.

There's a good stickied thread on this at Yojoe, btw.

[Mesopic]

A maintenance trick we used to use on our helicopter panels in the Army was to dip the tip of our screwdrivers into a little bit of "Comet Powder Cleanser" to remove stubborn or semi-stripped-out screwheads. It comes in a green can in powder form. The screwdriver must not be wet, but rather moist enough to pick up the powder residue. "Comet" enables the driver and screw to achieve a real tight grip to break free. I can't tell you how many time this worked for me.