stripped bolt hole

[whatthe]

while changing exhaust header gasket (due to leak) one of the upper bolt holes stripped. I took off the concave washer and it is catching a few threads but probably will not last. What are the fixes besides taking off the head and helicoil? Any ideas?

 

[bluesrt]

other than what you stated, run a tap the same size in to try to clean it up,sometimes it works, or tap a different size in there

 

[whatthe]

are the walls thick enough to go 3/8 in. ?

 

[bluesrt]

I don't really know

 

[gb66gth]

J B Weld.

 

[Allan]

J B Weld.

otherwise known as 'liquid mess'

 

[Allan]

are the walls thick enough to go 3/8 in. ?

I believe so, but if you are doing that, you just as well do the Heli-Coil insert thing.

 

[AZTVR]

I would suggest investigating keensert or timesert type inserts. I have no experience in this repair on a Viper head; so, I am not recommending their use; just that OP should find out what the professional machinists would choose on the Viper heads if he goes the thread repair route. I like the insert concept better than the helicoil in other applications.

 

[EllowViper]

I've done helicoil for years in aluminum outboard motor blocks. No issues at all. In fact, it was a pretty common repair due to the head bolts routinely needing to be drilled out after breaking in failed attempts to remove.