Repairing stripped threads on the head from those DAMN Valve cover bolts!

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

Aim: To repair/fix a stripped thread on the head from the Valve cover bolts OR you can just do this to make the valve cover bolts Nice and Strong on the head,therefore compression loss between the valve cover and head is zero :thumbsup: especially if one valve cover bolt isnt holding properly.

OR U may use this DIY to learn how to retap a new thread.

Very simple to do,don't be intimidated by it.Anyone can do this,it's that easy!


Required:

* Helicoil kit
* Drill
* Shifter
* Ratchet and socket


Steps:

Here's the Helicoil kit/Thread repair kit:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1200.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1160.jpg

50 bucks!

Make sure you get the correct size for your application.The valve cover bolts are 6mm.So I need a 6mm thread repair kit.They call it 'M6'

Remove the Valve cover:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1149.jpg

Find the threads you wish to repair:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1148.jpg

Put a rag around where you are drilling to catch all the metal shavings,keep those little buggers out of ya engine!

Grab your 6mm drill bit from the kit and drill out the old thread.Easy as.Simply hold the drill straight,point it straight down into the hole and drill,it will drill out the old thread.It's easy because the drill will follow the hole,you cant bugger it up unless you were holding the drill at quite an angle:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1150.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1151.jpg

Vacumn em' up!

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1152.jpg

A magnet! Come ere' ya little buggers!

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1153.jpg

Use your fingers too,keep them outta there!

OK,now grab your re-threading tool,put it into the hole,keep it straight,easy to do,and simply wind it into the hole:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1156.jpg

Wind it in a bit:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1157.jpg

Grab your thread,3 lengths to choose from:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1191.jpg

Umm,the middle one please:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1163.jpg

Grab ya thread winding innerer' tool:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1161.jpg

Put the thread on there:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1162.jpg

See that little bit of metal going through the middle? That's called the 'tang',you need that to wind the thread in.

Wind the thread in there,don't go to far cause ya can't wind it back :D If you did,I would drill it out and re-do it.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1165.jpg

I went a bit too far but it dosen't matter:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1168.jpg

Next is to remove the tang,simply push it to snap it off with ya tang removal tool:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1201.jpg

Push it through to snap the tang off:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1203.jpg

Then vacumn the tang out of the hole and your done! Told you it was easy.

The next piece of information is important.Something that is often overlooked is making sure the cylinder tube seals are firstly free from rips and/or tears and secondly that they are set in there nice and tight so no oil will get down into the spark plug cylinder into your lead and cause misfire.

Here they are.$17 each from Honda if they need replacing:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1212.jpg

If the rubber is still soft as hasn't gone hard,you can use a hammer to get them in there good.Tap tap ta-pe ru! Make sure you tap evenly around the outside,keep it nice and even,that's the trick!

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1219.jpg

If the rubber has hardened up,which happens over time,you can use a bottle top:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1213.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1214.jpg

Then use a hammer! hehehe Remember,nice and even tapping around the outside.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1217.jpg

That's it!

Wicked,tight as! Under high RPM that's what you need :thumbsup:

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2...2/100_1169.jpg

Extra Comments: If you have stripped a Valve cover bolt,which also commonly happens,take the old one down to the nuts and bolts shop and get them to match it.In my case it was a 6mm bolt,offcoarse.Also the 2 rear valve cover bolts are twice as long as the 3 at the front on the d-series engines.

Salvage the rubber grommets + metal top from the old bolt and re-use them.

fantastic - i wouldnt have had the guts personally, especially if the engine costs a fortune to replace.

how many times have you stripped a thread?? in my experience the bolts have sheared off before the thread was stripped..

nice job, i always woundered how i could do this in my back yard, btw how n where did u get the kit for 50 bucks? in interested, please pm

persoanlly i wouldn't use a shift, i'd use like a tbar that usually comes with it, and should use compound

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SiReal

fantastic - i wouldnt have had the guts personally, especially if the engine costs a fortune to replace.

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No no,it's too easy.U can't bugger it up,I'm confident to get other's to do this cause it's very very simple.Looks intimidating but it really is simple.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redefine

how many times have you stripped a thread?? in my experience the bolts have sheared off before the thread was stripped..

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4 of the 5 :p

I've replaced I bolt,thanks for reminding me! Cheers.

Thread Updated (at the very end).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redmugenjazz

nice job, i always woundered how i could do this in my back yard, btw how n where did u get the kit for 50 bucks? in interested, please pm

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Yes yes! Too easy Champ!! :thumbsup:

I bought it from a 'Workmans/bloke shop' :D out in an industrial area,you know the ones? Those random little shops out in industrial areas that sell tools for BLOKE'S :p

Just give Repco a call,they will point you in the right direction!

Updated into thread,cheers!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by na-118

persoanlly i wouldn't use a shift, i'd use like a tbar that usually comes with it, and should use compound

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That must be the bit I lost :D

It would make it a little easier to get it started but it's not needed on the head.

The re-threader cuts through the head like butter,a compound is not needed here.On a harder metal,forsure.I couldn't work out if the metal in the head is 'soft' or the re-threader is very sharp/good,probably both..

I actually need to do this, one of the bolts on the valve cover has sheared off in there. :confused: How would I get this out though?

Instead of drilling the old thread out, what I use for my stripped threads is a thread restorer:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/OBJECTS/28600/28572.JPG

i did it the exact same way.. my engine came with 2 stripped threads and now has 0 :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aaronng

Instead of drilling the old thread out, what I use for my stripped threads is a thread restorer:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/OBJECTS/28600/28572.JPG

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damn soo many options aye, how much for one of those,

Nice one Aaron!

Now a DIY is needed on it :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by p3anut

I actually need to do this, one of the bolts on the valve cover has sheared off in there. :confused: How would I get this out though?

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Has it snapped off in there?