Stripped head bolt hole

[jrwca]

Need some advice...

I am in the middle of replacing my head gaskets and one of my head bolts stripped out the threads. It's the driver's side by the firewall. I was on the final step of the torque procedure (it was the second to last bolt) and it stripped as soon as I started to move it.

Now I need to repair the threads. I am thinking about a time sert, but I don't have a way to get a drill in there since it's up against the firewall.

Has anyone successfully repaired one of these with the engine in place? How did you do it?

 

[Trey Hardy]

Need some advice...

I am in the middle of replacing my head gaskets and one of my head bolts stripped out the threads. It's the driver's side by the firewall. I was on the final step of the torque procedure (it was the second to last bolt) and it stripped as soon as I started to move it.

Now I need to repair the threads. I am thinking about a time sert, but I don't have a way to get a drill in there since it's up against the firewall.

Has anyone successfully repaired one of these with the engine in place? How did you do it?

I did this in my Silverado with the time sert kit
I refused to pull the motor and actually ended up drilling it with a ratchet as that was all I could fit in there. It was nerve wracking but it’s definitely manageable and was honestly very easy the plate time sert gives you makes it foolproof.

I will say I recommend doing all the holes on that side so when you go to put it back together you don’t have another strip out causing you to pull that head again

 

[Trey Hardy]

Need some advice...

I am in the middle of replacing my head gaskets and one of my head bolts stripped out the threads. It's the driver's side by the firewall. I was on the final step of the torque procedure (it was the second to last bolt) and it stripped as soon as I started to move it.

Now I need to repair the threads. I am thinking about a time sert, but I don't have a way to get a drill in there since it's up against the firewall.

Has anyone successfully repaired one of these with the engine in place? How did you do it?

I’ll let you rent mine if you ain’t trying to spend 800-1000$ on a kit for yourself…
Sadly it’s one of those kits you have to have to do the job but won’t use but one time and it’ll sit on the shelf so maybe we can save ourselves some money here if your interested just PM me

 

[Geotrash]

Need some advice...

I am in the middle of replacing my head gaskets and one of my head bolts stripped out the threads. It's the driver's side by the firewall. I was on the final step of the torque procedure (it was the second to last bolt) and it stripped as soon as I started to move it.

Now I need to repair the threads. I am thinking about a time sert, but I don't have a way to get a drill in there since it's up against the firewall.

Has anyone successfully repaired one of these with the engine in place? How did you do it?

One other thing to consider is to go with ARP head bolts when you put it back together. They are straight torque and not torque-to-yield.

 

[jrwca]

I refused to pull the motor and actually ended up drilling it with a ratchet as that was all I could fit in there.

So you were able to get the back bolts next to the firewall with a ratchet?

That's what I needed to know!

 

[petethepug]

Don’t they make extensions that go in the chuck to allow an extension, hand held chuck to connect?

 

[gooffeyguy]

Right angle drill or drill adapter?

 

[jrwca]

Right angle drill or drill adapter?

I'll have to check that out to see if I can make it work

 

[strutaeng]

I was also wondering if the right angle drills would be of any help. Like the slower RPM used by electricians/plumbers for drilling holes between studs. They are high torque/low rpm.

What kind of head bolts were you using? Did you clean the bolt holes?

I took a few old head bolts and cut some slots with an angle grinder with a thin cut off disc. I use them as a poornan's head bolt hole thread chaser.

Good luck.

 

[j91z28d1]

I have read to make sure you blow the hole out, if not it can strip the bolt. but I don't know.

if it was my daily, I'd run a heli coil in it and call it a day.

 

[jrwca]

What kind of head bolts were you using? Did you clean the bolt holes?

Felpro head bolts.

I cleaned the holes, but got myself wondering if I didn't do a good enough job. Hoping i didn't miss that one, but I'm being extra cautious starting on the other side.

I have a thread chaser tap to clean them out. Crazy how much gunk came out of them.

 

[Trey Hardy]

One other thing to consider is to go with ARP head bolts when you put it back together. They are straight torque and not torque-to-yield.

I second the arp hardware plus its reusable where the stock heads bolts are usually trash after they have been stretched/torqued

 

[Trey Hardy]

I have read to make sure you blow the hole out, if not it can strip the bolt. but I don't know.

if it was my daily, I'd run a heli coil in it and call it a day.

I don’t think helicoils would hold to the torque of the head bolts that was my original option too because I was tight on cash I ended up saving up and getting the time sert kit to do it right

 

[Trey Hardy]

Felpro head bolts.

I cleaned the holes, but got myself wondering if I didn't do a good enough job. Hoping i didn't miss that one, but I'm being extra cautious starting on the other side.

I have a thread chaser tap to clean them out. Crazy how much gunk came out of them.

I ended up cutting the old stock bolts and made my own thread chaser lol

 

[Geotrash]

I don’t think helicoils would hold to the torque of the head bolts that was my original option too because I was tight on cash I ended up saving up and getting the time sert kit to do it right

Helicoils are used often on aircraft engines. They're actually preferred over bare threads in aluminum in some applications. They're plenty strong for the job on an LS head bolt.

 

[BruceW]

I have read to make sure you blow the hole out, if not it can strip the bolt. but I don't know.

if it was my daily, I'd run a heli coil in it and call it a day.

The heli coil threads are stronger then what you start with.

 

[gooffeyguy]

Helicoils are used often on aircraft engines. They're actually preferred over bare threads in aluminum in some applications. They're plenty strong for the job on an LS head bolt.

The Edelbrock aluminum heads on my mustang came helicoiled in certain places from the factory. I believe where the rockers, exhaust manifolds, and lower intake mounts. I do know the valve cover bolt holes aren't though, but they're 1/4-20 and only torque to like 12ft lb

Are there room to use head studs with the engine in the vehicle on these LS engines?

If I were replacing the head bolts and there was room for install, I'd use studs

 

[j91z28d1]

The heli coil threads are stronger then what you start with.

depends on the material. but overall yes they are about as good in hard stuff like steel and better in soft stuff like aluminum.

 

[Trey Hardy]

The Edelbrock aluminum heads on my mustang came helicoiled in certain places from the factory. I believe where the rockers, exhaust manifolds, and lower intake mounts. I do know the valve cover bolt holes aren't though, but they're 1/4-20 and only torque to like 12ft lb

Are there room to use head studs with the engine in the vehicle on these LS engines?

If I were replacing the head bolts and there was room for install, I'd use studs

I don’t think theirs room for the studs because of the firewall but I could be wrong
And my inlaw was the supervisor to cherry point mcas airbase machining department he also said to use helicoils but I did the time sert because it’s what my tuner recommended to me and he’s done a lot of boosted applications so I figured he maybe had a bad experience with the helicoil maybe? Idk