xlwhellraiser

iTrader: (1)

Ok, I broke the bolt on the thermostat housing yesterday and I've been trying to drill it out, tap it but just can't do it. The drill, no matter what, can't go in straight. I did not breathe in hopes of drilling straight. Anyway, long story short, I gave up on it and i bought JB weld industrial one. So, I took two heli coils and jb welded them to the hole. Made sure they were as straight as they can be.
Do you think this would be enough to hold that bolt with about 16PSI of water going around???Here is a pic.

SpitotRs305

did you run a tap into the new hole first? and thread in the heli-coils? if not i think it will hold for a couple of days but i wouldnt count on long term

xlwhellraiser

iTrader: (1)

Couldn't run the tap on it. The very bottom of the heli coil has few threads, but other than that, NO. I had it drilled out, and I tried tapping it but all the bit would do is spinn in the drill. I guess I need other opinions.

SpitotRs305

you dont put a tap in a drill for any reason you need to do that by hand... with a T handle or a adjustable wrench NOT a drill

xlwhellraiser

iTrader: (1)

, I read all the instructions and never once did it say that I have to tap it in by hand. It showed the picture of every step with a DRILL.... Never done it before, and I thought I was following directions... Shieatea

Toehead

D'oh!

Darkshot

iTrader: (4)

Tapping has to be done slowly, preferably with a bit of oil, and backing out a 1/4 turn every 1/2 or 3/4 turn or so. At least thats how I do it.

jimdutro

iTrader: (1)

Xlwhellraiser, all things considered, it looks like you did a good job. For future reference, use a new drill bit next time if you did`nt this time. Let your JB dry for a couple of days before you run a bolt in it. The torque for the thermostat housing bolts call for 25lbs, I think I would use a little extra rtv and maybe go 15 lbs max. You got a lot of good advice about tapping, just a little late now. Let it dry and it may work. Make sure the bolts you use are in good shape and clean, use a little anti-seize/sealer compound on them. Good job.

xlwhellraiser

iTrader: (1)

I have another intake.

I tapped it with a 1/2 tap and I got some threads. Not many though, some. I am thinking about getting some Heli Coil for 1/2 and trying that with some jbweld. I really don't want to swap the intake, but I will if I have to. How about stripped torx??? I hate TORX.


Hey thanks for the up-beat words. I was expecting people to give me hard time because I made a dumb move (although I never did this before). Thanks. I'll see how everything works out.

xlwhellraiser

iTrader: (1)

I am trying to re-deem myself.

jimdutro

iTrader: (1)

xlwhellraiser, for future reference and I think it was mentioned earlier, there is a difference between a thread chaser and a tap. You can save yourself a lot of time and money learning the difference and using the correct one, I just started doing that myself. On my `88 Iroc, I have gotten in the habit of replacing every fastener with a new one when I remove an old one, and if applicable, I use some anti-seize compound on it. Again, good job, you can work on my Iroc anytime you want!

Toehead

Looking good!

xlwhellraiser

iTrader: (1)

New intake is on and the runners are up. Valve covers are back on, distributor stabbed. One little problem i have is that I used a MAF intake plenum and it does not have a provision for the MAP on the side. So, I have to fab something up to hold that Map there. (I have a speed density car). Now, I used the MAF one because it was already ported and painted to my liking.

I'll post pics of it tomorrow. Need to get some sleep.

xlwhellraiser

iTrader: (1)

Got her running today. She runs much much better than before. Not sure what I did other than get everything pretty snug. Did not breather at all when I put the housing on. I broke two aluminum housings and had to go with an iron one. I figured why I broke the aluminum housing so it was all good in the end.

Here is the pic of her cooling down for some last minute check ups and some re-torquing, and setting the timing.




I hope people learn from this thread.

Aluminum is very tricky, be careful and go slow. If the bolt is hard and wont come out DO NOT force it. Use some liquid wrench, WD40, PBblaster (whatever you have) and give that bolt time.

If you happen to brake something, be careful with EZ-out. Usually its best to use the biggest EZ-out you can for that size bolt. Most of the times, and many members can attest (me too) EZ-out just doesn't cut it. If you are drilling a hole make sure you drill it straight. Its OK to start with a smaller bit and progress to a bigger one. However, be carefull because if you start with a smaller one and its at an angle the rest of the sizes will follow the same pattern and you are screwed.

Tap BY HAND, do not use drill. My freaking heli-coil instructions had a freaking drill mounted for all the steps and I freaked that one up.

The most important thing is to go slow, and look at what kind of job I opened up for myself by being impatient.

Thanks for the positive words guys. I appreciate it.

rough

I had the same problem but the hole was just stripped i tried to tap it by hand didnt work well so i just put a slightly bigger bolt in worked just fine, Guess thats the ghetto way of doing it lol