I stripped out the holes for two of my valve cover bolts. The bolts are 6mm x 1.0, as verified by the die I ran them through.

So I bought a Pep Boys brand helicoil kit ("PermaCoil") and just installed the two inserts. But the bolts don't thread in! I just tried to bolt the valve cover back on and the two helicoiled bolts stripped out. Also, I can't run a 6 x 1.0 tap down the helicoils.

It's like they shrank when I installed them or something. I'm pissed and now the oil leak is worse than ever because the two bolts totally stripped out.

 

Wow, looking back, I don't even know what that post says...


Long story short - I installed two helicoils and the bolts won't thread into them. Why?

 

Because they suck.

Heliarc it or try a time-sert.

Ive NEVER had any luck with heli-coil ****.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Combustion Contraption &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Because they suck.

Heliarc it or try a time-sert.

Ive NEVER had any luck with heli-coil ****.</TD></TR></TABLE>


They're just valve cover bolts, I don't want to dick with it more than I have to. I'm just wondering how the helicoils can thread into the hole no problem then the bolts won't thread into the coils...

 

Did you drill out the holes and retap them as per the specs on the Helicoil kit? You cant just shove the Helicoils in the original hole. Like it says on the instructions you drill out the hole with the specified bit which is bigger than the original whole then you tap it with the specified tap. Then when you thread in the insert the hole is now back to the original size.

John

 

Bump

 

Did you read my post?

John

 

Yes, and it insulted me. Maybe the problem is the coils. I can probably weasel out the permacoils and install some genuine helicoils and see if it works.

 

i just drilled, tapped and installed 2 heli-coils onto my engine block yesterday. they worked fine.

i never heard of perma-coils? but the heli-coil brand seems to work pretty good when used correctly.

 

I think I figured out the problem. When I used a punch to break off the "tangs" after installing the coils, it ruined them

Tomorrow I'll try to remove the coils with an easy out and put in new ones.

 

heli-coil or perma-coil its all the same. Both work just fine. i have re-threaded alot of stripped out threads. I have rethreaded head bolt threads just fine. Valve cover bolts should be no problem.

 

Damnit, it was the coils.

So the directions explicitly outline the need to remove the coil "tangs" after installing the coils. They say to use a punch to break off the tang.

Well apparently, the punch not only broke off the tangs, but it also stretched and ruined the last coil which is why the bolts stripped out when I tightened them down. So I used a tap to remove the old coils and I installed new ones today. Instead of punching out the tangs, I threaded a grade 8 bolt into each hole and tightened it down which bent the tang out of the way without damaging the coils.

So everything worked out, no thanks to the directions.