OOPS!! Uh OH....Stripped valve cover bolt holes?

Don;t know how it happened because I never over tightned them but there are 3 bolt holes stripped for my valve cover on the cylinder head.
( the bolts that hold the valve cover to the head) Anyone know what to do here?

 

Sometimes you can get away with longer bolts.

 

Take the bolts to a home depot or a hardware store, go through all the nuts and find the one that screws on. this is the size tap you need. That store or sears should have a tap. After that just tap out the wholes and you'll have good as new threads... if the old threads are really bad you may need to drill out the holes a bit... use this Chart to find the correct drill size.

 

Or you could always put a heilcoil in the stripped hole. I have used these before on differant things with good succcess.

 

I would have to go bigger than what's in thee now. ( I think it's an 8mm) and its a very specific bolt too...nothing would match. Heli coil is an idea but im not sure if i can get one for this size? How does it work?

 

there will be a how to sheet in the kit or ask the man at the auto parts store where you buy the helicol.

 

Helicoil is the way to go. Or timeserts if you can find them.

I think the bolts are probably 6mm. Check the diameter and pitch before you go shopping, or take the bolt with you.

HERE is an illustrated write up of how to install helicoils.

If you decide to use loctite to anchor the helicoil to the head use it sparingly. Since the helicoil is essentially a coil of wire the loctite can migrate through to the bolt. If that happens the helicoil will likely come out with the bolt next time you remove it.

 

I went and got some fix-a-threads last night and re threaded the bolt holes. I got one a little crooked so it looks like i'll be using rvt anyyway TURNS OUT 4 HOLES ARE STRIPPED.

 

Probable looking at the same thing as I have been unable to ge the screws out of my front master cylinder. Never used fix a thread.

 

If the screws heads are stripped out on the master cylinder, take a centerpunch and punch a divit close to the edge of the screw. Take care not to punch it too close to the outside of the screw as you do not want to damage the cover itself. Now that you have a good dimple, take the same punch and angle it about 45 degrees and tap it in the direction of unscrewing the stripped out screw. It will unscrew, it just takes some practice. Now that you have the screw off, take it to a hardware store and match it up with a new one and you should be ready to go.

 

You will need to go and purchase a M6 x 1 mm helicoil set. Last time I bought one it was about 25 bucks, probably more by now. Pay attention to what you are doing, Do not drill oversize over what the recomended tap size is or tap the hole crooked. If you can pull the cam's, its easier to get the chips out, try to cover up anyplace that you can to keep the chips from falling down into the engine. Lastly make sure you remove the tang at the bottom of the helicoil. Just takes a quick rap with a punch to get them to break off. Just take it easy and take your time. It's really easy to do but also easy to screw up.

Sean