Hey guys, bought a 98 honda civic for 500, timing belt spun, valves bent.took the head off and broke bolt hole where the thermostat housing attaches. Some thoughts were to drill the existing hole more to allow me to sink it in there?








anyone ever had this problem? or have any suggestions, thank you

 

i sure hope i dont have to get a new block, i want to keep this car as my daily driver and would like it to be dependable, i dont want some "quick" fix to come undone down the road, but im not sure what to do on this one.....HELP lol

 

I would say that its time for an engine swap...it may not be worth fixing block, bent valves and what not....it might be cheaper, and faster to just buy an engine...single cams are very cheap and there are many different options to choose from

 

thought about doing that, but i dont think it would be cheaper, i have a friend at an auto shop who will seat the valves in the head for free, as a last resort ill swap motors, i have a friend with a wrecked del sol, motor starts and runs, he said he would sell the whole car to me for 400, just dont know how "hard" it is to swap to a different motor, i dont like getting into installing new wiring harnesses and such. but i havent dont alot of research yet, mainly cause i dont know what motor is in the del sol.

Any ideas on drilling a little more into the block and getting s longer bolt?

 

Buy the del slo and swap motors. The ease of the swap increases when you have a complete chassis to take parts off of. You'd probably be able to recoup most or all of the cost parting out the rest of the sol.

 

does anyone know how important that bolt is to the system anyways? i know it was put there for a reason, but what kind of strain is actually put on it? wish i knew what motor the del sol had so i could research and see the difficulty of the swap.

 

The thermostat is very important and a longer bolt wont help. I believe that bolt attaches the block and the... mind went blank but its needed. Time for bed. In either case without it that part that escapes me could rattle or crack because only one other bolt holds it in place if I am not mistaken. The del sol uses a D series motor so just search for that. Either replace the block or do a motor swap.

 

so that one little break ruined my whole block? wow this really wrecked my night

 

would it weaken the block too much to drill into it? maybe i could build a bracket and mount it to the block, but i wander how much clearance is there? don't really have the money to buy a new engine but im not sure if i have the knowledge to swap in a different motor. i mean if it was the same motor, just drop it in no problem,

 

You can't drill it deeper without cutting into things you don't want to cut into.

Personally, I'd try either welding it back on, or if you don't have access to a welder, try some JB Weld. No promises it'll work, but it's the only option short of replacing the block.

 

One thing you could try would be J-B Weld. You would have to clean everything up, including the bolt, and pack the broken area with the stuff and put your housing back on, before it sets up, and run your bolt right into the J-B Weld and let everything setup together. You might not ever get it apart again but you worry about that later!

I can't tell from your photos if this would be a practical solution, in your case, but it's something that's worked for me in situations like yours.

 

On the JB weld topic, make sure you get a massive C clamp before you do that, and clamp the t-stat housing on while it solidifies, so you know that it's on their flush.

 

thanks for all the input, my uncle told me about some stuff like JB weld but alot stronger, apparently he used to use it for geo thermal stuff. I will try and do that and see what happens, ill post pics when im done and let you guys know what happened

 

there seems to be a ton of pressure on that bolt, anyone know if that is normal? it takes quite a bit of force to realign the T-stat housing, which i wander if that is what weakened the area

 

I'd go this route... . Plus u could learn to work on your own car using the donor delsol

 

Why are you so keen on keeping your block?

 

Its a relatively simple engine swap

 

Just by the del sol and have your buddie who was going to do your headwork do your swap for you. Yeah it might be a quick fix to jb weld the housing back on but how long will that last.

 

because it is already installed and i dont have to pay for a new one lol

 

do you have to change the wiring harness?

 

he is the owner of a shop, he was going to seat the valves for me for free but i doubt he would take the time to do the swap, plus i would have to tow both cars down to the shop and that seems costly, wish i had an aluminum welder! Anyone have a spare block thats sitting around they need to sell? its a 1998 honda civic EX D16Y8 im going by my buddies today to check and see what kind of motor that Del sol has.

 

I had a similar problem on a motor once. I used jb weld and it lasted great.. Drove for another 6 months and then sold the car.. As far as I know it's still good.

But CLEAN IT really really good. Multiple times. With a very good solvent like acetone. Engine oil isn't hard to get off but coolant is very slimy and jb weld won't stick to it. And rough up the surface good so it has more surface area to stick to

 

Depends on the motor...but there is blocks all
Over the place...im confident that you can find what you are looking for

 

im going to try this out Devcon Aluminum Liquid f-2, ill drill and tap a new hole and see how that goes, first i got to figure out why there is so much tension on the T stat housing. Thanks for all your input, ill post pics of the process

 

Swap it. That way you don't have to worry later down road if it does hold up for time being. Broken blocks= a no no in my book. Think of it like this would u want a house on a broken foundation? It is the base of the engine if it fails a lot more parts fail( which equal a ton more money and hassle)