Stripped screw heads??

If the head is totally stripped, and you don't have an extractor bit, try this:

1) File opposite sides of the head flat
2) Take a pair of pliers, get a good grip on the flat sides, and twist (lefty-lucy!)
3) Replace all Philip's head screws with Allen head screws. Philip's head screws should be outlawed!

Good luck!

Yes but they are countersunk. Here’s the drill if you are lucky & the thread isn’t too stuck. You could either carefully make a cut with a hacksaw blade to make a flat blade slot & use a impact driver to get it out, downside is makes a cut line in the cover. Have to use judgement here.

I have had some joy with a sharp small wood chisel. Make a cut down from the centre to the outside, then angle it in the direction you want to undo it & make an impression. Then use a sacrificial screwdriver & keep tapping it around.

Good luck. If all else fails then drill the head out so the cover comes off then carefully grip onto the remaining screw with some good quality vice grips.

Failing that, give it to someone with a mill & they can grip the whole cylinder to drill the old bolts right down with a mill bit (try to drill it by hand & it will wander from the steel into the ally). Then run a tap through to re thread it.

You can use a die grinder or a dremel tool with a small round carbide bit to deepen the existing grooves in the screw or create a slot to fit a flat or (regular) screwdriver in. This is the trick we use in the shop and it works almost every time.

so how did it go?