was tightening up the stage8 header bolts after swapping gaskets........apparently i tighetened one of them too much because it just started spinning freely, i pulled it out and it had stripped all the threads out of my cylinder head.
it was NOT cross threaded, it literatlly just ripped the threads off the head.
and i dont mean 2 or 3 threads......ALL of them came out........there is just a smooth hole there now........the bolt slides in and out and has nothing to grip.

can a machine shop fix this when i remove them.

i am just about to swap heads/cam anyway, so they are coming off and was gonna sell them as a bare core, but id like to know if i can fix them for the prospective buyer.

 

btw......after doing some reading.........it seems a heli-coil is the only way to fix this........but judging by how hard it is just to put a damn bolt in the engine bay, im guessing this needs to be done with the head OFF the car, or atleast remover the header from the engine bay to make room. (pita).

 

Yes you could fix it with a threaded insert, but first I would try a 1" long stage 8 if you stripped the hole with a 3/4" bolt. They do sell them in small quantities, you don't have to buy a whole set.

 

I would personally helicoil it . Doing that correctly will require that the heads be off the car & in the hands of a machinist though. At least it will be able to handle more torque than before though, & for guys who wrench on their cars (exhaust especially) constantly, it's not a bad idea to go ahead and helicoil all of the exhausts IMO.

 

yeah, im thinkin about doing that on my new heads before i install them......how much should that run?



btw, i started the car up missing that header bolt, and didnt leak right away.......but its only a matter of time before it starts.
oh well.......time for heads/cam install!

 

i can tell you that this hole has already been heli coiled trust me i would have a machine shop fix this problem for you they have a toll that can drill deaper for a more stronger heli coil i would not try to do this yourself cause you caould hit a water jacket and then you are screwed

 

If it is one of the bolt holes on either end, you may be able to use an alternate hole if your header flange is drilled for it. There are two sets of holes on the ends.

 

nah, its one of the middle holes.