dcubed Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 (edited) 1999 Legacy Outback To avoid having to do body work on the rotted lower rear corner of the front passenger door of my gf's car ( i hate body work, I don't have good tools to do it and I am very bad at it), I decided to buy a junkyard door and replace the entire door. My gf picked up the door and brought it home - only for me to find that it was taken from a Legacy, not a Legacy Outback. As such, it did not have a heated mirror and the mirror itself was smaller. No problem, I thought, I will simply change the mirror. Well, the first thing I realized was that there was a different door wiring harness. No problem, I spent an hour swapping the door harness. When I went to remove the 'new' mirror, I found a stripped out Philips head in the recessed screw. Almost as bad, I can't remove the same screw from the 'old' mirror, even when using a large screwdriver to get maximum torque. I plan to drill out the screw head of the 'new' mirror to remove the mirror from the 'new' door. However, that will still leave me with the 'old' mirror stuck on the old door. Can anyone offer any tips? Edited December 1, 2013 by dcubed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 Those screws are very tight and often rusty or corroded. Buy or rent an impact screwdriver to crack them loose. They're usually about $20 at auto parts stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 I had the same problem on wife's 98 OBW, when she broke the mirror on passenger door. Removing those phillip head screws was nasty. They were super tight, and the phillip heads just wanted to strip out. It would have been much better, had Subaru installed with small headed bolts instead of the phillip heads. Drilling out is the best approach, but not with a normal drill bit. Use a bit that drills when drill is turning left with a reversing drill. There is a word for this type of drill bit, but I can't remember it. Once you start drilling left, the screw will eventually un-thread and come out as though you were removing with a screw driver. I have only done this one time a few years back, so my memory of this is, is not the best. I hope some one else on this forum reading this, may be able to explain this better. Can anyone chime in?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 +1 on the impact screwdriver - they are an excellent addition to any toolbox. We own this one from Harbor Freight - it is actually pretty well made, and the flange at the top helps protect the hand. That said, if the head is already stripped pretty badly, then drilling would be your best option using the left-handed bits as described by Rooster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcubed Posted December 7, 2013 Author Share Posted December 7, 2013 (edited) New developments. mirror on new door: I tried a Craftsman tool that is basically a broad-tipped reversible drill that tries to grab any remnants of the Philips features. I tried three different sizes unsuccsessfully; all they did was create a nice smooth-walled crater in the screw head. This crater, however, was useful for guding the drill bit for the pilot hole that I drilled for the EZ-Out. Unfortunately, the Ez-Out broke off inside the pilot hole when I tried to unscrew the screw. Now I have the hardened tip of the EZ-Out stuck in the screw. Am I now screwed? mirror on old door: Using a Bosch powered impact driver I was unable to loosen the screw. I bought a hand (hammer) impact driver set, but the smallest bit is too large. It doesn't accept the standard bits that my other drive tools take, it's a bit larger. I am no closer to removing either mirror and I now have a piece of hardened steel stuck in one screw head. Any suggestions? Edited December 7, 2013 by dcubed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 (edited) Break out the Vice grips. Although they may not work if the screws are recessed. In that case drill holes on either side of the easy out, then grab it with some needle-nose and try to twist/pull it out. Most impact drivers are 5/16 or 3/8 drive. Sears carries #2 phillips bits that will fit. At least the one here does. Seems odd they didnt include a #2 bit with the driver. Edited December 7, 2013 by Fairtax4me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcubed Posted December 8, 2013 Author Share Posted December 8, 2013 (edited) mirror on old door: the bit (#1, I presume) of the powered impact driver broke when trying to remove the screw. The manual impact driver tool has a #2 and #3 bit, I think I need #1. I think I will drill out the screw, trying to preserve the threads in the hole. If I can find one, I will look for a left-hand bit for the final plunge to try to work out the remnants of the screw. mirror on new door: The small EZ-Out (#1) has only the tip left in the screw which is at the bottom of a recessed hole in the plastic cavity of the car mirror. There is no way to grab the EZ-Out or apply heat. I think I will try an alumina (aluminum oxide) grinding stone attachment in a Dremel tool to grind out the EZ-Out then drill out the screw like I will on the old mirror. Edited December 8, 2013 by dcubed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmark7 Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 they are called 'easy-outs' i think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcubed Posted December 22, 2013 Author Share Posted December 22, 2013 (edited) Update: Job is done, but not without some pain. old door: I bought a manual impact driver, but its Philips head tips were too large for the screw head.I decided to buy a used mirror off eBay for $35 and try to get the mirror off later (and sell it on eBay to recoup some of the cost). new door: I decided to try to grind out the EZ-Out and screw head. I discovered that I had several Alumina grinding tips in my various Dremel kits (yard sale acquisitions). I had two conical stones (think Christmas tree profile) that would allow me to get into the root of the Philips heads where the EZ-Out had broken out. I also had 2-3 other stones that were a bit larger. I went through the two conical stones and one of the larger stones to grind away the head of the screw. It took some time, but it was relatively easy, even in the tight space. The car is now re-assembled with a 'new' (junkyard) door and 'new' (eBay junkyard) functional heated/power mirror. Total part cost is $135. I have the unheated/power mirror with a screw body stuck in one hole and the old heated/power mirror still stuck on the old door. I expect to get maybe $50 back by selling the two mirrors on eBay, when I have time to get to them (this Spring). Lesson learned: Don't use an EZ-Out; drill/grind instead and re-tap as necessary Edited December 22, 2013 by dcubed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 (edited) Sometimes you can drill a slot across the gutted Phillips screw head that would then accept a standard head screw driver (impact or manual). Use a dremmel tool to cut slot. Edited December 23, 2013 by brus brother Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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