I made a Boo-Boo

[95 svt cobra]

yea so i have GT 40X heads, which are alluminum and i was swapping out for some header locks cause mine kept backing out and burning up gaskets, all the fun stuff. SO i get through and the last bolt near the firewall on the drivers side i think i may have tightened it too much by accident. My hand slipped off the box wrench and it must have stripped the threads in the head for the bolt cause now it wont stay tight and it comes out real easy. i thought it was maybe just the bolt at first so i had another one laying in the tool box and swapped it out but it didnt solve it. does anybody have any input as far as to what i can do to fix this? these heads arent cheap as you know and i dont want to fuck it up anymore than what it is.

 

[94Pro-5.0]

sounds like you stripped the header bolt holds out. I bought my TFS heads with 4 bolt holes that were cross-threaded, so i had the a machine shop helicoil the holes. Cost me $53 for all 4 holes (usually only costs about $12 per hole)

so if worst comes to worst you'll need to pull the head off and get a helicoil.

you may be able to get away with using high heat threadlock

 

[topless95]

helicoil, maybe?

 

[Paul]

Yep, a helicoil is in order. Given the location of the hole, I doubt you'll be able to do it with the head on the car. Time to pull the heads. You could just have them all done for good measure.

 

[94kingcbra]

I did the same thing except I snapped a valve cover bolt...it was a bad day to say the least, but ya take off the head and take it somewhere...It is a true pain in the ass to do it yourself...Good luck

 

[Mr. OAM]

You can heli-coil the hole yourself. The kit usually comes with the correct drill size, or it states what size drill to use, and then use the supplied tap to thread the hole. Use WD-40 at minimum for a lubricant while tapping the hole. Be sure to hold the tap up straight. Then you use the supplied tool for turning the coil down into the hole. You also have to snap off the driving lug at the bottom of the coil with a quick tap of the hammer. It's really easy to do this repair. There's no black magic. Ask if anyone has any questions. In my Trade I have done this a thousand times.


Steve