Last night it was late and I was swapping out the rear suspension on my 93 Civic, with that from a 95 GSR...it's pretty hard to get it all on in one piece (including shock/spring) and I somehow managed to cross thread the first few turns on BOTH of the threaded holes in the chassis where you mount the upper arm! There are about 13 turns, and the first 3-4 are now shot and I can't get the bolt in without ruining the rest. What should I do?

I don't think I can re-tap to a larger size, because I would have to enlarge the hole in the arm, as well and there's not much room, really. Would a Heli-coil work for this? Is it strong enough? Or, should I just attempt to drill out the first few threads (which I ruined) and see if I can get the remaining 9-10 threads to hold it?

I need to fix this today, so any knowledge would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

 

Man Sorry to hear it but it is going to be a pain. Dont ask me HOW I know this but you need to Hemi coil it thats what I did but let me tell you this is some tough **** and took me about 4hrs. to do it and that was just one hole. Make sure you use a sharp tap and lots of lube. I did get it to work though

 

So, this same kinda thing happened to you? I figure that's what I'll have to do, but the really shitty thing is that I don't have a power drill here (away at school) and I don't want to have to go buy one...

just to bitch...I also broke one of my goodridge lines and realized one of my shocks is weeping...this is turning into quite the fiasco!

 

Try running a tap of the same size thru it slowly and see if that will "clean up" the threads.

 

yeah, I thought of that, but the problem is that the first few threads are there (in a sense) but they intersect the rest of the threads at an angle, so they don't line up. ie. I can turn the bolt in a couple of turns, then it stops...but, I may try this as well, since it is cheaper/faster/easier than heli-coil...
thanks guys! any other suggestions?

 

I had a similar problem one time, but not on a car part. I took my dremel and ground away the first couple of threads then chased the hole with a tap. In your case I don't know what would be stronger, heli-coils, or a few missing threads.

 

yea, i would try to run the tap, to clean up the threads. heli coils would be strong enough for that part though.

 

hmm...so, a vote then. I'd much rather just clean up the hole, if that would be strong enough, since the HeliCoil kit costs $51 dollars!!!! and the tap costs $7...

I would have about 2/3, or more, of the threads left in the holes...should this be sufficient to keep the upper arm attached to the body, or should I go heli-coil?
The car is to be used on the mean streets of portland and autocrossed with some reasonably stiff springs and shocks, if that makes a difference? No off-roading, or anything

Thanks for the help so far!