I swear to god this car hates me. Was redoing the brakes and for whatever reason the end of the helicoil that Spoon uses on the calipers unwound itself...Now I have to buy the freaking helicoil kit which is $100.

I'm going to guess this has only happened to me

"Spoon...making parts that are unnecessarily difficult since 1989"

 

I don't remember seeing a threaded insert on my Spoon calipers when I had them. Where exactly is it? And you should be able to find individual sizes online with the proper installation tool. It's always been a big gripe that threaded insert kits are expensive when you only need one insert. Try other brands like Recoil, ect. They should offer a quick fix kit of some kind.

 

Why would they use a helicoil from the factory?

I would think they would just drill and tap.

I suppose doing the above and going to the next size up wouldn't work for you?

 

Since the Spoon calipers are aluminum and the bolt is steel, the bolt is likely to strip through the aluminum threads after repeated install and removal. To remedy this, Spoon uses Helicoils for the two holes that hold the Spoon caliper to the hub. This creates a steel on steel mating surface which is stronger and less likely to strip than steel vs. aluminum.

So I don't need to retap anything. The threads that the helicoil sits in are fine, it's just the helicoil itself unraveled which is a pain in the *** since it needs a special tool and kit to replace it. I'll take some pics so if it happens to anyone else they know what to do.

You can actually see the helicoil in this photo here. It's threaded into the two holes that hold the caliper to the hub.

 

I replaced the buggered helicoil and all is well in the world. The kit was $65 bucks for the 12x1.25 kit. Took about 15 minutes to yank the old one out and thread the new one in. Bolt went in like butter.

 

Good to know. Thanks for sharing!
Haven't happened to mine, and hope it never would.

 

Yep I know I have a talent for creating problems that nobody has seen haha. Basically be very careful threading those two bolts in when removing the caliper for a rotor change. I was doing it in the dark and managed to yank one coil out of the helicoil and it's impossible to get it back in place without the tool.

 

Can you take some pictures of the tool, where you got the parts from and how it looks and what not so the near future when i do buy me Spoon calipes I know how to deal with this since I have the same luck as you LOl.... Did a oil change on my had no problems drive it down come back the hole damm thing is leaking went crazy trying to figure out where it was coming out of to find out it was bad O ring on the oil cooler adapter where the oil filter goes on

 

Glad to see you got it fixed. Mine are going on this weekend. Will remember to only work on it in a well lit area

 

Here is a picture of the helicoil that unraveled on me:



Here is a link to the tool:

http://www.toolsource.com/metric-fin...m-p-72436.html

 

Thanks for the clarification

 

Wish I would have seen this earlier. Pretty sure I have that size. You buy the whole darn kit with like 10 inserts and you only ever seem to use one.


BTW, a 12x1.25 tap is something everyone should throw in their toolbox. Lots of stuff that size and usually not included with your typical 198 piece Harbor Freight type of tap and die set.

 

Yah I got the Helicoil branded kit and it only came with that one specific tap and installation tool along with 6 helicoils. Amazon had it for cheaper but I didn't want to leave my car sitting there like that.

 

Bringing this back up again. Why? Because this just happened to my twin blocks today. One of the helicoil inserts unthreaded when doing a rotor swap out.

I also noticed that the bolts that mount the calipers to the hub are the OEM Honda bolts and not the Spoon supplied blots (my R came with these calipers on them). Does anyone know what the differences in bolts are and if I do use Honda bolts, should I use a washer and where?

This is a USDM '97 ITR btw.