I posted this in my model specific forum, but thought I might solicit input from non-Civic owners as well.

I was changing out the rear trailing arm bushings on my 2000 Civic EX yesteday. They are held in place with (2) M12x1.25x60 bolts, #20 in this diagram.



The inboard bolt on the passenger side came out about 3 turns, then stopped. I spent about an hour tightening/loosening and trying to get some PB Blaster in there. Ultimately, it seized completely and broke.

Attachment 516626

There is about a 1/2" of the old bolt stuck in the body. To make matters worse, these bolts have about a 1" shoulder, so the piece is about 1" deep in the hole. You cannot access the other side of this bolt unless you cut through the inside floor of the car under the back seat.

My plan as of now is to source some left hand drill bits and TRY and drill the piece out. I'm concerned that, if I cannot back it out and I destroy the threads in the body, how am I going to re-thread it to reinstall a bolt?

I've thought about a helicoil, but this hole has no "bottom" to run it in against.

I thought about a RivNut, but I don't know if these can be used on suspension components.

I came across something called a "Timesert", but I'm not familiar with them at all.

I'm open to ideas and input from anyone willing to help.

 

Bolt extractor