Well here goes. I am putting accessory's on my 383 which is on the engine stand. The power steering pump bolt holes on the accessory bracket must have been messed up cus they destroyed the bolts and when i looked in they were destroyed and genious me tried to drill it out and tap it...well i drilled abit to big..arghhh...anyway i got the help of a pro and we drilled a correct size and put in the correct helicoil (thread insert). I got new PS pump bolts and away i went. I put the accessory bracket on the motor, lined up the ps pump and put in the bolts. The right ps pump bolt is in fine and snug. BUT i must have stripped or messed something up on the left ps pump bolt cus its in, and its fairly snug (cant turn it with hands) but it wont tighten anymore or loosen to come out with a ratchet. Its snug....I rattles the ps pump to see if it was loose and its pretty dam tight. NOW my delema...as you know the ps pump covers one of the accessory bracket bolts that bolt on the head. Without being able to remove the ps bolt, i cant get to the bolt that bolts the accessory bracket to the head. So in the future im gonna have a HELL of a time doing heads on this car, unless I take the whole head w/ bracket with no accessories but ps pump off and get a new bracket and ps pump. NOW my question would you:

A) Leave it as it is, the ps pump is tight and will hold fine it seems, and when its time to do heads, take all the accessories off the accessory bracket but the ps pump and remove the head with the accessory bracket attached and get a new accessory bracket and ps pump

OR

B) Figure out a way to fix it while the engine is on the stand

Mind you, if u pick B, PLEASE give me some ideas cus i have NO clue. The bolt head is fine, but it dont tighten or come out, pully is in the way also which kinda sucks, im sure it can be removed but its tight in that space, and i dont think its possible to drill it out from the back, i can see the bolt turning if i look trough the hole in the back BUT its to narrow and close to the head to get a drill in there...ideas..please!

EDIT: If your confused as to the condition of the bolts movment it is as following: I cannot turn it with my bare hand. BUT I can turn it with a 3/8 drive ratchet, it will turn left and right, just wont come out. I bet if i pulled on it it still wont come out...

 

Sound like your helicoil came loose. I guess you need to find a way to pull on the bolt while trying to unscrew it. I'd find a way to fix it now, when you have some access to it.

 

awsome shoebox, thanks...good idea:-) ummmmmm can i take the pully off the ps pump?

 

One option is to remove the pulley, you will need a special tool to do it. After the pulley is off grind the head off of the bolt you cant get out. The pump can then be removed, and you will have the bolt sticking out of the bracket. You will be able to grab onto it with vise-grips and try to work it out, or drill it out, or buy a new bracket.

After i wrote this i realized if you dont have the pulley remover, you could just drill the head of the bolt off through one of the holes on the pulley and get the same results.

Good luck whatever you do, but i would STRONGLY suggest fixing the problem BEFORE you put the motor back in... your going to have to fix it, you might as well do it while its easy to get to. you will thank yourself later.... -Jeff

 

yea that would prob work seeing how the bolt thats inside the actuall ps pump is just a shank type with no threads, that mite work, gotta get a new bolt though, arghhh takes 3 days....whats the best way to keep this helicoil from loosening up agian? we put red loctite on it and let it dry for 3 days. Any ideas?

 

if you're looking to get the bolt out and fix it from there, just bust out an impact wrench. break that sucker loose and then if it were me i'd go to a junkyard and get a new accessory bracket. helicoil and tapping are never as reliable as stock stuff.

 

Usually they are better than any thread in aluminum. You might be surprised to find out the rocker arm stud holes in your aluminum heads have helicoils in them to make them strong.

 

i'm still rockin iron heads!

hmmm...we try not to use them at work, seems they never seem to work well for us. maybe operator error.

 

Whats the best way to keep this helicoil in the hole without loosening up? I'd hate to go get a new accessory bracket cus this one is already powdercoated, any ideas?

 

I would have thought the red Loctite would hold it. Maybe it was not clean. I keep hearing Gorilla Glue will hold anything to anything, lol.

 

How about gorilla glue + loctite?