i was turning over my engine with a ratchet and all of the sudden the bolt felt like it stripped out. i took the bolt out and i saw a thread saver over the end of the bolt. how can this be fixed, another thread saver, or tap it?? thanx

 

if its just the bolt, just buy a new bolt, if its the crank stripped out then thats NOT a good thing,..

 

its not the bolt

 

what can i do

 

Call up a local machine shop in the area and ask them if it's ever happened to them. Or what they would do. I would imagine you could just chase it, worst case retap it. If you use a larger bolt I can't see any side effects.

 

Heli-coil it. It's 7/16"-20 (fine). Don't try to ethnically engineer it somehow with a larger bolt or any such "rig", it will just cause even more trouble in the long run.

And learn from the mistake: don't everturn the crank with the balancer bolt again. That's guaranteed to cause what just happened to you sooner or later.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

How does one turn the crank then, without using the balancer bolt?

 

got me, as for heli coils and 7/16 by 20 all i could find at pepboys was perma coil 7/16 by 14. im beginning to hate this car

 

It's not the car. It's the motor. Just weld it on. Problem solved. Just kidding.

Brad...


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1986 SC Camaro
Mods: Threw 2.8 in garbage, put in rebuilt
350 .060 over, XE268H Comp cam, Edlebrock
Performer Intake and Edlebrock 600 CFM Carb,
Pete Jackson noisy GearDrive (which sounded
cool for about 5 minutes, now I'm sick of it)
Rebuilt TH350, 3.42 Rear Gears. LCA RLB's.
B&M Mega Shifter.
Now has T5 in it. YES!!!
CenterForce Dual Friction Clutch.

 

There are several other ways to turn the crank.

• If it's a stick shift, put it in high gear and push the car. This works especially well if you have a terrible gear like 2.73 or 3.08.
• They make a socket that goes over the end of the crank. Moroso carries it. You pop the balancer of and it fits over the snout and the key.
• Get a "remote" starter button. It allows you to stand next to the car and just bump the motor with the starter.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

Hey RB, what if the balancer is on, and you don't have a stick shift, and you have to turn the engine precisely 90' at a time so you can set the valves?
Yeah there are flywheel turning tools, but who wants to set valves while the car is in the air so you can crawl under it to turn the flywheel.
I'm not saying you're wrong, just that there are circumstances that turning the balancer bolt is your best option. In my experience (read: no better than 9.5:1 compression engines), the engine will turn over at well under the torque spec for the balancer bolt. How can you strip the threads on it if you can't even get it to proper torque w/o binding it to stop it from moving? Worst case, you could even pull the plugs, then you would have no comression to turn against = gravy.

 

I had the same thing happen, and fortunately, my "Micky Mouse" job worked. I used a little bit longer bolt, and alot of Loctite. I wouldn't really suggest this, I was dumping the engine soon. I will replace it with a heli-coil, if I ever use this engine again.

------------------
'82 Firebird, dead stock, 9 bolt disc rear, over 200,000 miles and still going strong, more to come...
http://www.spinfrenzy.com/stingerssx...easures.html#4

 

Painless wiring makes a hot start solenoid that also has a bump-start pushbutton switch on the bracket. This thing is perfect for someone that has to set valve lash regularly.I have one on my big block solid lifter car.
-Rich-

 

dont use a headbolt in place of a crank bolt..............my friend tried that one when i wasnt looking

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89 firebird formula


360 10:1compression (350 .060 over)/fully balnced and blueprinted
comp cams xe262 cam
performer rpm intake/port matched to heads
#1405edlebrock 600
sportsman 2 heads 64cc 2.02/1.60 valves 200cc intake runner/cnc pocket ported
msd 6al/msd8.5 super condutor wires
h.e.i. proform 50,000 volt vac. advance ditributor
700r-4 with 3.08 first gear and 3.73rear. trans shift kit(will kill shifts...suck dong!!)
shorty heddman hedders with custom 3" pipe y-pipe back(no damn cat!) with 40 series flowmaster!
griffin daul1" core rad.cutom fabrication to fit(but no cutting )


future mods: 406 roller REALLY REALLY REALLY RADICAL!!!!!.with lots of NOS

[This message has been edited by burnoutrpm (edited November 12, 2001).]

 

i fixed it. No one around here carrys that heli coil size so i just said the hell with it and bought a 7/16 by 20 fine tap and used that. I put the bolt back in and this time when i went to go set the timing i went inside the car and gave it a small crank until i finally lined it up. And when i went alittle bit over the timing mark i was able to turn the pulley that small bit with my father to line it up. It took alittle longer but it worked and now i have no stripped bolt. thanx for all your replies

 

lol, i had that happen to me, was turning it and turning it and nothing happened i took the screw out and it was completly striped the crank and the bolt, just stuck it back in and drove it around, then placed my new engine in a few weeks later. I have not used the center bolt yet in fear of that happening again.