Need help fixing a sho-bud pedal by saturday gig

[Alex Piazza]

The ball on my sho bud A pedal broke off.. Half of the screw is broken off inside of the pedal. I need a quick fix for a gig this saturday. I dont ever use my c pedal, so i was wondering if theres a way to swap or slide the c pedal over so i can just have the A and b pedals...? or is there someone that could get that broken screw out and I could just swap the ball from the c to the A?? Any ideas would really help. thanks

[Earnest Bovine]

For now I would remove pedal 1, and put pedal 3 there.

For a really quick fix you could attach the pedal rods from 1 and 2 to pedals 2 and 3. Let the rods out a little longer if possible so the pedals aren't too high off the floor.

To prevent breaking another one in the future, check to see that those ball joint screws are screwed all the way in.

[Alex Piazza]

Hey earnest, thanks for the quick response. I would like to just replace pedal 3 with pedal one. I just have no idea how to do that. It looks like they are all connected? Im a little scared to start unscrewing stuff and making it worse

[Alex Piazza]

I guess I dont know how to go about removing the pedals. It looks like they are on locked in there pretty good

[Alex Piazza]

ok, i figured it out!! Im a novice

[Dave Grafe]

You should be able to get an easy-out and replacement nipple from a good hardware store if you take the broken part with you.

[Keith Davidson]

Alex, you can get that broken screw out. You need to drill it first and get an "easy out" the correct size and then insert it in the hole and then screw it out.

If you have never done anything like this before I would suggest taking it to a machinist as you need to have the drilled hole perfectly in the center of the screw and when they are broken off like that the broken piece is rarely flat.

A machinist can lock it down and center punch it so that it drills straight. You then have to gently tap the easy out into the hole and turn it counterclockwise to remove the broken nipple. If you break the easy out off in the hole, and that's not hard to do you will be in a real mess.

The plus side is that it shouldn't be very tight so it should come out easily with the proper tools/technique.

[Bobby D. Jones]

First rule in a machine shop is do not drill and use an Easy-Out on steel bolts in Alumnium unless a very large bolt. As the Easy-Out grabs the steel it starts swelling it into the alumnium and locks it tight. If it is close to the surface of the alumnium the best thing I have found is take a Dremel tool and one of the cut off wheels and wear it down till you have about 1/4 inch clear wheel from the arbor. About 3/4 inch accross wheel. Just set it straight down on the broken bolt. Cut a slot accross the broken bolt end. Heat it up a little and take a screwdriver and work it out. If this process is not feasable take it to a machine shop local. Most shops have a Wizzard who deals with these kind of problems. Good Luck and Happy Steeling

[Keith Davidson]

Yes you are correct Bobby, but if he was to drill the hole a smaller size leaving extra body between the bolt and the pedal, then the easy out should not come close to contacting the aluminmum threads.

I would try as Bobby suggests first though as it just may screw out.

If that fails I think your best option would be head to a machine shop.

[Herman Scurlock]

If the bolt hole is all the way through the pedal, just chuck the pedal up in a drill press, using a very slow speed and high pressure, center drill the bolt, by using a high pressure the drill bit will "catch" in the bolt, when it does just maintain feed pressure and it will spin the bolt right out. If its a blind hole the same process can be used from the front with a reverse twist drill, although working with the broken side can be a bit trickier. This is how we used to get broken bolts out of die plates and sections.

[Curt Langston]

If that fails I think your best option would be head to a machine shop.

Head to a machine shop anyway. They will do it for next to nothing, probably while you wait!

Don't make it hard on yourself and run the risk of ruining the pedal.

[Keith Davidson]

Take Curt's option - if you haven't done anything like this before, you risk ruining the pedal.