stripped head bolt

[CoryB]

I took my carbs off when I put the engine in the car. As I was putting the carbs back on and tightening the bolts down one of them pulled straight out of the head with aluminum in the threads. What is the suggest procedure for fixing this?

Thanks

CoryB

[red-beard]

2 choice, both require drilling.

drill and tap for 10mm, use a 10mm/8mm stud

drill and insert an 8mm thread insert

There are advantages to both.

James

[CoryB]

Thank you for the reply red-beard. I don't know if I want to attempt to redrill the head myself. The middle bolt is the one that is stripped...do you think that once I get it running I could drive it to a shop so they could fix it...or would it leak gas? Does redrilling require the engine to be dropped?

Thanks

CoryB

[red-beard]

It will not leak gas. The manifold is running less than atmospheric pressure. It will leak ait into the manifold making the car run lean.

You might use to silcone RTV around the manifold as a temp fix to help get you to the dealer. RTV comes off pretty easily.

James

[mike95125]

I just did this this morning (about 3am). I used a timesert kit to reinstall a threaded sleeve. I used the provided drill bit and a T handle and drilled it by hand. You need to take your time or you will end up crooked (ask me how I know). The time sert kit is pricy, though. I was lucky that Sean_v8_914 had a kit to loan. It may be just as easy to put a larger stud in there.
HTH