Please Help!!

soulfly28

Senior Member
I bought a pdp kit for $45. This was unseen. I figured at that price, I could sell the hoops and get my money back. Picked it up yesterday. Dear lord God, I have some work ahead of me. All the hoops have rust, some more than others. The lug "mounts" all have rust. That is an easy fix, kind of. I am running them through my parts blaster and when done, I am going to have them powder coated black. Here the the major problem. Some of the "mount" screws are stripping when I try to remove them by hand. I can't fit a drill in there to drill them out. Any ideas? The hoops are also getting sandblasted and powder coated. I mainly need ideas on getting these screws out.
 
Try this first: Take a rubber mallet and lightly tap the screws. If that doesn't work, hit harder. The pounding should loosen the rust.

If that doesn't work as a last resort, try some sort of rust remover on the screws. Be sure to tape off the shell as best you can. It will be messy though and will stain the shell. Be warned.
 
The mounting screws are rusted into the lugs.
Get a tiny pair of channel lock pliers or vice grips and use them to loosen the screws.
Spray some penetrating oil around the screws and slowly work them back and forth until they are removed.
 
I'm sure you see plenty of bolts rusted like this in your day job, Bob?
More than I want to remember :)
Phillips head screws aren't the best fasteners in the world when it comes to tightening and loosening them. You will probably have to buy some new ones to reinstall the hardware.
 
Thanks. I was thinking of wd40 of pb blast, but was afraid of what it might do to the shell. With pb blast, i'll have to worry about the drum wrap I think.
 
Also if you have a flex shaft you could just drill them out carefully, sometimes rust gets so bad chemicals cant even get in there to loosen it. I might use that as a last resort though depending on your comfort with tools/mistakes.
 
The head are what are stripping. This is response to an earlier reply. I have drilled out a lot of screws, but I'm just nervous on this for fear of damage to the shell.
 
To be honest, keeping rusty hardware in the shells is more likely to do damage over time than a well-aimed drill bit. If the drums are already in this kind of state then you're not exactly going to damage the value if you make a slight mark in the shell.
 
Yeah, I'm taking all hardware off, sandblasting, then powder coating. Nothing will be unblasted on the hardware. A lot of work, and a lot of blasting media in the nose, but I almost have 2 of the toms done. These lug mounts are holding me up. All this to turn a profit, if I don't like them.
 
If its just the heads you could try that grabbit drill bit, never used one but seems like exactly what your looking for.
 
The head are what are stripping. This is response to an earlier reply. I have drilled out a lot of screws, but I'm just nervous on this for fear of damage to the shell.

What ever you do take the nut boxes OFF the shell , don't work on the hardware while it's still attached to the shell.

I strip every thing off the shells first.
I have made wooden shoes to hold the various nut boxes in a regular vice.
WD40 is fantastic as are most of types.
If I have to drill then i do it on a bench drill with the nut boxed held in position.

Good luck
Simon
 
You can dremel(rotary tool with cutting head) the heads off the screws and pull the lugs out and then lube the heck out of them to get them out. Pliers should work on the leftover screw at this point.
 
Ive been pulling the hardware off of the shell. Thanks for the tips. I will give them a try. I must admit I looked the look of sandblasted chrome. The ones I have done so far look like a pewter. Very cool.
 
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