hey all.. my friends has a 66 coupe with a 289... i was helping take of the oil pan to change the gaskt and put a rubbe one wen i noticed one bolt wasnt even on.. we checked it and and bolts cant even thread into the block because i think the thread on the acual block has been stripped.. what can i do?

 

Drill it out and install a thread insert. Be very careful .......

 

Drop in that 351w he always dreamed of

In all seriousness, Texas is right. You can drill it out and rethread it with "Heli-coil", just be careful...

 

Is the old bolt broken off in there or is it just stripped out? If it is just stripped,I would think you could tryre-tapping it.

 

no there no bolt in there.. it empty... how can i re thread it.. ive never done anything like that? i would like step by step if its posible.?

 

Well you will have to go and buy a tap and die set and somecutting oil. Select the correct size tap , oil it and slowly screw in repairing the bad thread. That will work if it cross-threaded. If it is too out of shape to re-tap ,refer back to TexasAxMan's post.

 

wat if the bolt is a 1/4 inch course thread... wat tap do i use?

 

its a 1/4-20 bolt, you need a 1/4-20 helicoil kit OR you can drill the hole larger and tap it with a 5/16-18 and use a slightly larger bolt.

 

Be careful when you use the tap, and use some type of oil on the tap.
Screw the tap in two or three full turns keeping it straight to get it started. Then work it in a little at a time. Say maybe one turn in, quarter turn out. If it starts to really bind, work it in smaller increments. You will feel it cut the threads, when you do, back it out a little, (This will clear the chips) cut a little more, back it out, cut more, back out, and so on. You only have to back out until you feel the chips break off.

You do not want to break the tap off in the hole. They are brittle. Easy does it.

It wouldn't hurt to practice tapping on a piece of scrap metal if you've never done it before to get the "feel" of it.

 

where can i get the helicoil kits at?