Guys, I need some advice. One of the bolts that holds down the cam plate and cam caps broke. My question is, where can I bring it to have it drilled out and re-threaded? If anyone knows where I can take it, please post here! Here are some pics:

The bolts that I am talking about:



The actual bolt that broke:






[Modified by 98civichb, 5:57 AM 10/19/2002]

 

go buy an extractor.. from the pic it doesnt really look like it needs to be rethreaded.

 

Oh, I just found out earlier today that there are kits out there to "extract" the bolt out, but it was too late. I told my dad a few days ago about the broke bolt and he said he knew how to fix it. Thought he was gonna take the bolt out but instead he started drilling it out and was planning to rethread it. Plans didn't turn out as we expected though, cause for some reason the 8mm tap that we bought was too small. We have been working on it for a few days and we're frustrated as hell so I'm just gonna bring it somewhere to be rethreaded.

So basically now the bolt has been drilled out and the hole needs to be rethreaded. Thanks for the help though, I should have posted this earlier before consulting with my dad...

 

Are you using those air tools to work on the head? If so, that is overkill, really should use only a good torque wrench.

 

never use air tools!!

 

Nope, that's just the pic I got from c-speedracing.com to show you guys what bolt I am talking about if the pic I have is too small. The bottom picture is what I took today. Can anyone help me out? I would really appreciate it!

 

Man, that sucks!

If the bolt has already been drilled out and you have an oversized hole, you might be able to helicoil it.

Sonny


[Modified by Sonny, 1:48 AM 10/19/2002]

 

Hey Sonny, you got any more info on "helicoil"-ing? Where can I get it done? I really appreciate your help.

BTW the hole is not too big for the screw, but maybe for re-threading it. My dad used a standard tap for the 8MM bolt..... That's the last time I let my dad touch my car.

 

this just happened to me and my friend last night...we went and got an extractor kit and it didnt work so we took a dremel and cut a slit in the top of the bolt and just used a screwdriver to unscrew it....sorry to hear about needing the rethread...good luck

 

Dammit Trendsettler! If only I knew to do that a few days ago!

Ah well, anyone know what I can do now?

 

call a machine shop?

 

I don't know of any in my area. I'd like to find one around the San Jose area if anyone can recommend one to me, thanks. Or where can I look one up (maybe in the phone book?)

 

This just happened to me do to a broken torque wrench heres what I did:

1. taped off the entire exposed head, except for the hole where the bolt broke off.
2. used a center punch to mark the EXACT center of the bolt (snap-on makes a really nice auto center punch)
3. used a snap on extracter kit.
a. drilled in reverse with a special reverse drill bit included in the kit (slowly with a cordless drill)
b. inserted the proper extracter.
c. gave it a tap with the ol' hammer to make sure I got a good bite.
d. turned the extracter counter clockwise and whola!

Masking off the head took longer than the actual extraction process. You can also ad a little grease to the drill bit and surrounding area to help catch the metal shavings.

I thought it would make a good how to article, but I forgot my digi cam.