My engine donor came with security lug nuts and no key. I spent a good chunk of time yesterday online trying to find a key, and had no luck.
It needs six outward facing splines, but a hollow center, and it has a thin circle on the outside to make it difficult to just hammer a socket onto it
Spent this morning at the junkyards looking for an equivalent key, and had no luck.
Gave up and tried welding lug nuts to the outer circle. And got these results.
Any ideas? I'm pretty much stuck at this point, as I need to remove the wheels so I can remove axles, so I can remove the engine. Plus the wheels/tires are decent enough that I could recoup some expenses selling them, so the shotgun method is not appropriate.
I have used these successfully. Drive it on and spin the nut off. Your FLAPS should carry them in several sizes or a set.
I think the thin outer wall is designed to defeat those. At this point, I may still give some extractors a try, but I think I'd need to cut or chisel the wall off first, and hope there is enough left for it to grab. The actual key part is very close to the surface of the wheel
Oh yeah, I picked up the HF 16 piece key set yesterday, and none of them fit. I also own an air chisel, but suspect I'd damage the wheels in the process, and I got rid of my big compressor years ago, so only have a 3 gallon compressor, that likely won't do the trick.
Edit: the one in the picture above is now boogered up bad enough that even if I had a key for it, it won't work, so an extractor may have to be tried.
Shotgun ? Edit - sorry I missed the 'no shotgun' in the original post :(
Either chisel the outer shell off or see if you can find the correct key online, this might be it:
https://www.amazon.com/Luminuti-Small-Spline-Socket-Replacement/dp/B0D7BNXBX5/
Unfortunately, the splines need to be on the outside of the key. Will likely still have to chisel off part of the one above, since I messed it up pretty bad.
It looks like the stud is dished, right?
Maybe just drill down into the stud, with as large a drill as you dare, and just hammer the stud off. It should break where the threads exit the nut, which will be flush with the rim.... should...
Can you get the the backside of the stud? Grind it off from there.
3/4 in hole saw. It'll drill through the stud and cut the lug nut off the stud. I had to do this to my E36 M3ty Jeep Grand Cherokee that had the 2 piece lugs from the factory. I wasted an entire weekend berkeleying with it and the hole saw trick had it off in about 20 minutes.
I second the drill the stud option.
Spoolpigeon said:
3/4 in hole saw. It'll drill through the stud and cut the lug nut off the stud. I had to do this to my E36 M3ty Jeep Grand Cherokee that had the 2 piece lugs from the factory. I wasted an entire weekend berkeleying with it and the hole saw trick had it off in about 20 minutes.
I'm assuming I should be buying a good quality hole saw for this? Not the time for chinesium?
In reply to eastsideTim :
You might be able to get through one with a cheapie Chinese hole saw. If you're doing more than a couple, however, I'd recommend a decent brand. Some of my favorites are the carbide-tipped ones, though I have a few Milwaukee HSS sets that have taken a beating and still keep cutting.
Don't forget that a hole saw requires a lot of torque and will do best with lubricant and/or coolant. I'll often use Tap Magic in the annulus if I'm cutting vertically on a horizontal surface, or hit the edge of the saw with Nikx Stix or Brute Lube wax if cutting outside of vertical.
A high quality 1/2" drill bit will eat right through the stud.
You'll have to replace the stud, of course, but you won't damage the wheel.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:
A high quality 1/2" drill bit will eat right through the stud.
You'll have to replace the stud, of course, but you won't damage the wheel.
I don't think the scrapyard will care if wheel studs are missing 
Wouldn't a 3/4" hole saw damage the wheel? The good quality drill bit suggestion seems prime. I like the Bosch Titanium. If you don't have a set already they're totally worth the $40 or so. Or you can buy them individually but really. Drop the $40 you'll wonder why you never did before. Also don't waste them on drywall a cheap bit works fine on drywall and the gypsum will dull the good bit.
the set I love:
https://www.amazon.com/BOSCH-TI21A-Three-Flat-Applications-Heavy-Gauge/dp/B01JD7V1FS
