valve cover bolts

[USMC240]

alright now i've gone and done it! i replaced my valve cover gasket but when i tightend the bolts i over tightened them causing them to strip. now ive been driving around for too long smelling the burning oil that is pouring out of my valve cover on to my exaust manifold heat sheild. there is a total of four holes that are stripped.
Does anyone know if i have the lateral clearance to tap those old holes and put new threads in, b/c the last thing i need is to crack my head.

if anyone else has this problem let me know your remedy.


thanks
mike aka MrWrap2

[mrmephistopheles]

For future reference, those bolts only need 10-12 lb-ft of torque.
You can probably retap the holes without any worry. If you need reassurance, pull the valve cover off and take a look. As long as you don't go too extreme, you should be fine. In the meantime heavy duty zipties may work to hold the valve cover down a bit more than it is.
Good luck, Devildog.

[USMC240]

haha sorry i thought that was funny. not like i dont hear it a thousand times a day, but now i have to hear it here too. no prob

i dont know why i never thought of zip ties as a quick fix. Thanks tho.

Ive never tapped anything, well my girl everyonce and a while but thats a different story. any tips or secrets i should know about? btw, the bolts are out of the holes, they're not broken off inside.

thanks
devildog

[mrmephistopheles]

Well, having been a Marine, I felt it appropriate.

[onboost]

if the bolts are out, just measure the depth of the bolt and subtract the thickness of the valve cover = that is roughly how deep you should tap it.

[mrdirty]

If you've never tapped anything then I suggest either practice not on the car or have someone else do it...aluminum self destructs very easily. The jist of tapping:

-drill a pilot hole (u already have on in this case)
-drill the body hole (refer to tapping table to det size based on bolt dia)
-get the tap into the handle and make sure it's as close to square (relative to the hole) as possible
-douse the tap and hole w/ tapping oil
-SLOWLY turn the tap into the hole 3/4 of a turn to start
a-back out 1/2 turn to break the burr
b-turn the tap in a full turn
-repeat a-b until u are a 1/4" from the bottom of the hole
-after 3 full turns I remove the tap and clean the hole w/
a shot of pressurized air, re-lube it and after carefully re-
seating the tap go for another 3.
-if necessary switch to a blind hole tap

-The problem w/ tapping aluminum is that the aluminum is weaker than the tap by several degrees and will strip w/out much warning, also it will gunk up and jam the tap very easily which will basically ream out the thread you already cut so keeping everything clean is critical.

Last note on blind holes: make a mark on the tap w/ a black marker indicating a 1/4" from bottom of hole so that you know where to stop tapping...

[USMC240]

thanks for the tips

[USMC240]

well it took long enough, but i finally did it. I took pics of the process and i should have them up soon.

here on base, we have a Auto Hobby Shop. Its about 30 or so bays, with a a full tool set per bay. Theres also a tool rental room for off the wall tools like taps and stuff. all set up for you to twiddle around with your car, with no one looking over your shoulder.

and across the street there is a body shop. Any thing you want welded, they do it, pipes, they do it. Paint, you do it. Its great, and the best thing about it, ITS FREE!

i got my short stack, ghetto rigged intake made up (picture below) and hopefully within the next few days, i can get one made out of aluminum. If i can figure it out, i'll let you know if i can get a bunch made up for all of us to have.


take it easy fellas, and the few ladies.

devil dog

[Kid Zelda]

Umm, well that's a different intake approach!

[mrdirty]

W/ an intake that short u may have trouble...

[kapowered]

I did the same thing on two bolts. I believe that I used a 3/8" bolt to replace it. Clearance was not a problem.

[USMC240]

yeha i just tapped it with a 7 mm, as apposed to the 6mm original one