Control Arm to body bolt STRIPPED!

[BTERRY1]

When reassembling i did not even get it to proper torque be for the damn thing stripped. after all the BS with rod bearings, and oil pan gasket now this!! guess i wont be driving it to work tomorrow.

what now? how hard to fix this. if i spend too much more my wife will leave me

[flash968]

if it's the caster block bolt, that's disturbingly common. that stupid nut that is welded in there rips loose. i guess they were serious about 34 and not 35 ft/lb. unfortunately the only real fix involves a welder.

[Rasta Monsta]

Shouldn't be too bad. . .I once found a welder on CL who brought his portable 120v unit to my garage and charged a very reasonable rate.

[kdjones2000]

To answer your question, they have to cut out the sheet metal to expose the internal nut that is stripped, remove that one and replace it with a new one, then weld the sheet metal all back together.

I large PITA; look for someone who is good at welding for this job.

Good luck,
Keith

[mikepellegrini]

Heli-coil!

I stripped one of the control arm bolts on an 84 NA my son owned, and we used a Heli-coil. It was dirt simple and only took maybe 30 minutes. The kits are kinda expensive (~$50) but they're a lot easier than any other solution. And they're advertised to be stronger than the original threads.

Helicoil Inserts | Helicoil kit

[BTERRY1]

Thanks Mike I will look into that

[Rasta Monsta]

^lolz

[HondaDustR]

Dr. Porsche succeeded by thinking independently and unconventionally...so will I when fixing his creations!

[Gawernator]

Hit the nail on the head. First headlight cover. Installed in about five seconds. Second cover? 10 minutes+ banging away and cussing to fit it on. Guess they can bend or warp?

[gggbell]

Just had this happen - stripped the M10 nut on the caster block. A simple fix, that worked for me, is to just go to a 7/16-20 UNF bolt. I know this is not a non-molesting fix for Porsche purists, but my 951 already has an LS3 in it The 7/16 is just big enough so that you can tap the original welded-in nut directly and the aluminum block has enough slop in the tolerance I didn't even have to remove it and drill it out. The tap slips right through the block. Go slow and use light oil when tapping - it's a hard steel. This actually takes slop out of that caster block assembly and although not metic, it's a larger thread with more thread stress area too it appears from engineering tables.

[v2rocket_aka944]

nothing wrong with that IMO...just the "next size up"...
i think i did the same thing 12 years ago, but don't remember LOL

i have 3/8" bolts on my custom rad frame so im right there with you.

tip: for the future, clean a spot on/near the caster block and make a note in sharpie/paint pen that the bolt is 7/16"/SAE sized so you know which socket/wrench to grab.

[gkovakas]

TimeSert is the only way to go. They are pricey but far superior to a helicoil