Quote:
Originally Posted by FrugalNinja250
Propane torch, or better yet, MAPP gas torch, applied for 10 seconds more or less, on the head of the screw, that will generally soften the locktight enough to get the screw out. Once the screw is junked the options that leave a good bar end diminish significantly. If you're not worried about saving the bar end, use a 4" cutoff wheel like are often on sale at Harbor Freight for $10-15 to grind out the end of the bar end screw head. Just start making edge-wise cuts into the face of the screw. Once the screw head is gone the bar end will fall off, and you'll have the stump of the screw left sticking out the end of the bar. Hit that with the propane or MAPP torch until you see the locktite bubbling, then grab the stump with vice grips and unscrew it.
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I was using butane torches. It would've worked great if the two butane pencil torches didn't fail to light, stay lit, or ever work again (they both completely died after a few attempts to get them to stay lit). The butane micro torch I bought after those worked fine on the remaining bar end but it was too late for the first. I don't have any kind of electrical outlet anywhere near the bike (apartment parking lot) so I can't work with powered tools unless they run on batteries. I considered Harbor Freight's 12v impact wrench but it was too expensive for something I'd likely use only once (you connect it to the vehicle's battery like jumper cables). Anyway, what you describe is exactly what they did do my bar end at the shop I took it to. It took them about 5 minutes but I had to pay 1/2 an hour of labor ($37.50). I should've retreived my grips from home and had them install those too if I was paying for that much labor!