Help with frozen fin block.

[bhs]

I have a D3 fin block and the bolts won’t budge. Before I spend money on a new one I thought I would check to see if anyone has had success backing out bolts with out damaging the block or bolts.

[ColeGiacopuzzi]

@bhs Try loosening the screws that attach the block to the ski or just take the whole fin block off the ski, that will free it up a bit.

[Horton]

I would go a step further than that. take the whole thing off the ski. if any of the bolts will loosen I would take them all the way out. The design of the D3 makes it a little bit harder to recover a frozen bolt.

[BobF]

Probably not the answer you're looking for, but... I had a D3 block freeze up, and nothing would free it up. I tried penetrating oil, heat, hammer on a wrench. Nothing.

Bought another block, and have used anti-seize on every ski screw since.

[klindy]

WD-40. Let it soak for a day or more. Of that doesn’t work try some heat (don’t over do it).

[Than_Bogan]

Becoming a big fan of antiseize. Cheap and reliable.

Once fully seized, even crazy heat cycles in your oven may not free it. But worth trying.

[BraceMaker]

Oven baked it at say 250 then drop in q bunch of ATF or kerosene.

[teammalibu]

if you cant get them loose send it to me with a return label i will fix it and send it back N/C

[skialex]

I can fix this too.. remove the fin block from the ski, unscrew what can be unscrewed without breaking or damaging the head of the bolts. Use a plumbers torch to heat the block around the seized bolt areas and try to remove it while heating the area. It works all the time if done correctly. Anti seize rarely works unless it is used as a preventative method. Also if the screw is damaged of broken or nothing works you can always drill off the screw with the right equipment. You would need a very good bench press drill and a good quality cobalt drill bit, or a milling machine. Process has to be very precise as the aluminum surrounding the screw is much softer material. If done right you would not damage the threads and would only need to clean the threads with a tap. If you damage the threads it’s not the end of world, you can still repair it with a helical insert (helicoil).

Put grease after that and every time you buy a new ski.

Alex,

[JackQ]

This was a frequent occurrence for me when I skied in saltwater.

 

I would drill out the allen heads of the screws and then I could often remove the actual screws. Antiseize helps somewhat, but just delays the process. I used stainless steel "timeserts" similar but better than helicoils. www.timesert.com/ and never had an issue again.

[Stevie Boy]

If you ruin the hex heads, use a easyout commonly used in the aircraft industry drill the right size hole wack the easy out in , 9 1/16 spanner and hey presto ! Or maybe 1/2 but way much more leverage on the screw/bolt

Re-usable

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F123380753042

[skialex]

@Stevie Boy good luck with this... if the screw is really seized and you have ruined the hex head the screw extractor would not help. At that point only drilling the screw out will work.

[Stevie Boy]

@skialex been there ! Done it ! Works a treat ! you can get a spanner on it, much more torque than a allen wrench

[jakecuz23]

I work in a bike shop and deal with aluminum parts stuck in things all the time. A proper penetrating fluid, a little bit of heat, and time will get anything out. Don't use WD-40, its a cleaner, not a penetrate like PB blaster or deep creep. Spray it everyday for a week and try it again.

[igkya]

Sounds like it’s time for a new ski.

[bhs]

A new ski would be nice but no funds right now.

Thanks everyone I will try penetrating fluid and heat.

@teammalibu if that doesn’t work it’s coming your way!

[scuppers]

Electric impact driver - will walk em right out then anti seize the head of the bolt as well as the threads

It’s the clamping side of the bolt head that seizes in a lot of cases.