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What do I do?
Never had this problem before!
Hammer the next size up Torx into the bolt.
Ie 4mm=T30
Works almost every time.
Cheers, do I need a clamp?
Nah, just a torx and a hammer. Ideally, if it's a screwdriver torx bit, use a right angled screwdriver or get a straight driver and stick something through the handle to let you twist it more easily- and keep a lot of pressure on the bolt as you turn. Get in there with some good penetrating oil too, whatever caused the original rounding out could still be an issue. (or maybe not, if it was a clogged up bolt head, bad tool, or operator error) The hammer blows can help loosen it too.
Which bolt is it? If it's a faceplate then undo the 2 opposite bolts (ie, if it's a top bolt, undo the bottom ones) and if it feels safe, slightly do up the remaining, unstripped bolt. Takes pressure off the stripped one. Obviously don't squish your bars though, don't overdo it.
All this stuff together is probably overkill but that's OK, overkill works and underkill makes things worse.
Cheers, it's a top bolt.
I that doesn't work you can use a saw or dremel to cut a screw driver slot in it. Or drill the head off.
Are the other bolts still tight? If you nip them up a little bit it should relieve the pressure on the stuck bolt possibly enough to get it out.
I'll have to check Steve, I only loosened one other bolt before that one rounded.
Are the other bolts still tight? If you nip them up a little bit it should relieve the pressure on the stuck bolt possibly enough to get it out.
This. Or the other way, loosen them all off and the faceplate will then wiggle a bit which might take tension out. Or at the very least, with 3 / 4 undone, you can pull the bars through (if you remove levers and grips) and then hacksaw the shaft. (If your bars have a centre bulge, even moving them off that without removing them should remove trension too)
Lots to try before panicking
I was thinking of haccking off the screw, but then do I not just end up with twice the problem with two bits of bolt, one in stem and one in face plate?
no, because it's usually the tightness / tension that makes it hard to undo and once that's gone then they will turn freely.
Like how easy it is to turn a nut up the shaft of a bolt