So Im dealing with a regular head bolt on a 80s Williams game, basically the female T nut has fallen out of the body wood groove and now I have a head bolt with a stuck on T nut that just keeps spinning.

I spent two hours with pliers, vice grips, and needle nose trying to hold the dropped out T nut and then crank the head bolt loose but it wont budge. I even tried to pull the head bolt upward with the back end of a hammer to get tension and try to loosen the head bolt still nothing.

I have a feeling the nut and bolt are somehow misthreaded over the years and now stripped.

Outside of a grinder or drilling out the top of the head bolt does anyone else have any other suggestions for this removal.

I have never dealt with a bolt this bad and I can really see why you should always throw a little grease in your body and leg bolts

I thought of the dremel but wasnt sure how that would work. its a system 7 but the T nut fell out of the wood and its kinda hard to get to underneath because there is a wood body wall in the way you have to reach out around to get to the nut. I think attacking the top of the bolt is pretty much my only way of taking it off, the bottom one is hard to get to and with a dremel it could get ugly with body damage.

whats the best method to take the top of the bolt shaved or drilled off, so the bolt drops thru

thanks...
what kind?

yeah I have about a centimeter of clearance on the top of the bolt. the bottom T nut has barely any room. I have already taken out the playfield out to try to get better access to it but its still bad. both the bottom and top of the bolt only have about a centimeter or two of clearance between the wood body and head. I think chopping or drilling the big round top of the bolt would work like a charm and I dont want to use heat if I can help it. I just am trying to figure out what the best way to do this would be.

I have drilled out locks before but have had drill bits snap off while drilling so I want to take the smartest approach to this as I can, I have already tried the pliers and vice grips approach and it did not budge under tremendous torque.

again thanks guys for the tips. with the dremel would it take long to shave down the top big head of the bolt to be round? Im really leaning to attacking the top so the bolt will just fall thru into the cab bottom

I like the hacksaw idea too. Im sure it would be slower but could I possibly chop the top of the headbolt off using a regular by hand hacksaw going back and forth?

I like the idea of the little pipe wrench. LOL you need miniature tools when dealing with those tight areas. thanks Chad for the idea. I am gonna try the hacksaw approach and maybe tape around the area not to cause too much damage. I banged the tools into stuff already but luckily it was all internal. man stuck bolts really stink. I will be buying a small cup of grease to use going forward. they built these games nice but when they deteriorate over time it can cause some nasty problems!

also amazing how you can post a problem on this site and within minutes have multiple responses with many knowledgeable answers. this site rocks!

thanks that sounds like a great idea I will look into!

thanks everyone for the tips. Im gonna try the bolt cutters and see how it goes. if that doesnt work well I may go the slow route of a hacksaw.