more thanjust a blown head gasket!

[datsunfish]

Me and Datdoug swapped on a nice rebuilt a87 peanut head on my 510s L20b last week. The old w53 was worn and burning a lot of oil. The car was having cooling issues and losing cooland and oil out the front drivers side behind the timing cover ever since the install. I finally blew the head gasket yesterday and when I pulled it off I found the front d/s head bolt hole was stripped. The head seems to be ok as well as the block other than the bolt hole.

The obvious question is can i put a thread insert in it? Would it withstand the stress of heat,torque and combustion compression? It would be alot easier than changing the motor of course but would it last?

[datzenmike]

Done properly it will.

[bob72gts]

You should have no problem repairing that hole. Lots of engines are out there that have been repaired, especially front drive Caddys. If you are going to do it though I would advise against Helicoils check these out instead

 

 

 

http://www.timesert.com/

 

 

 

From personal experience they are easier to use and stronger.

[datsunfish]

I have used case savers in my vw motor but thats aluminum. Well cool then I will try that this week. At least its in the hole with the alignment dowel so I can use that as a guide to keep it straight.