Broken needle removal

Quite often I find the Cox engines I am restoring have a broken needle. It seems to be a common calamity and depending on where the break is - they can be quite difficult to remove.

As I am repairing and restoring backplates at the moment, I thought I wouldn't pass this one by.

The first pictures show the "easy" way. Clean the broken end and use super glue to stick a rod (in this case a broken con rod) to it. Always apply the glue to the rod before joining or you could end up sticking the broken needle to the thread.

Let it dry and then twist. (anti-clockwise of course!)



50% of the time this will work but in this case - three attempts and no joy!

Now for more desperate measures. Mount the backplate in a vice, centre the needle and drill a hole - not very deep - about 1/8". I use a centre drill to start followed by a 1/16" jobber drill (buy them in 10s - very cheap).

Superglue the end of the shaft of the drill - just the tip - insert in the hole - twist and out will come the needle. Be patient and let the super glue (cyano) dry.



I almost forgot. Don't spill glue on the dog!