Hi there,

well, I was adjusting my timing the other day, and I pull out the CAS to restab it, and i notice that the f*cker who last set my timing has overtightened the CAS retaining bolt and stripped the thread on the hole it screws into.

I changed the bolt for a different one of the same thread size, and it sort of holds, but i cant tighten it and the CAS doesn't hold in position after a bit of driving.

I have a hand-tapper but probably cant get access without taking off the power steering to drill it out and tap a bigger hole, so i was thinking of maybe using JB Weld or something to coat the stripped edges of the hole and retap it without needing to get a drill in there, or use some other epoxy **** and hope its soft enough so the CAS bolt will be 'self-tapping'.

I also thought of JB-welding a stud into the CAS hole and using a nut on the stud to lock the CAS down rather than the bolt-into-tapped-hole setup. (This is my preferred option)

Has anyone else had this happen?

Thanks

-Pete

 

You could try a sheet metal screw that will self-tap itself into the CAS body if you don't want to drill and tap anything.

Or, you could put a bead of RTV on each side of the "ears" and let it cure. The CAS shouldn't move unless you want it to...

 

Heli-Coil wont work due to the thin thickness of the flange. What you need to use is a Riv-Nut; basically a threaded insert that is inserted like a Pop-rivet. They make Tap sockets to hold a Tap, then you can use an extension and a ratchet/breaker bar to tap the hole.
I would go the Riv-nut route myself (But according to some I have no fabrication Skills)

 

HHHMMM, bad idea

 

Lol, that, of course, is your opinion...

It is kinda freaky that I suggest rig-job stuff like that while I maintain a career as an aircraft inspector, though...

 

Get a piece of soft copper. Maybe 1/16" diameter. Place that in the hole and tighten the bolt. Have used it many times on trans pan bolts where some nut tightened the bolts with an air wrench and srtipped them out. The copper is soft enough to be pliable in the hole and allow the bolt to be turned in.

 

Just wanted to add-The length of the piece of copper should be the depth of the hole. It would be placed in the hole, perpendicular to the bottom on against the side of the hole.

 

ah right, thanks for clearing that up - I was wondering if you meant copper tube, or just some little scrap of copper.

If I could just clarify - you mean a 1/16" thick rectangular copper shim, the length of the hole's depth and skinny enough for the bolt to sandwich it against the side of the threaded hole easily?

 

Which is why airplanes continue to fall from the sky, and a submarine can hit an underground mountain at high speed AND SURVIVE. As a former SUBSAFE QA INSPECTOR we NEVER allowed "rigs" such as you describe.

 

ive had ok luck with just a longer bolt, the factory hole is deep. or a stud, if you can get it to thread

 

Nor do I on the aircraft, but we're talking about 15+ year old cars driven by guys who can't afford much, now aren't we?

We all have our own assumptions on acceptable levels of risk in everything that we do, right? Do you drive faster than you should? Rivnuts would be a good fix, yes, but how many guys even know what a rivnut is? I try to recommend the easiest cost-effective approach to the myriad of problems that occur on our cars that might work...

 

Well, I was in the auto parts store and what did i find but a 'Stripped Thread Rebuild kit' - Some kind of 2-part epoxy paste, and some release compound.

You coat the sides of the stripped hole with the goo, coat the bolt in release agent, screw in the bolt, wait for it to set and unscrew the bolt - presto - new thread.

I can't see a reason why this wouldn't work - the CAS doesn't need to be torqued down excessively - anyone got any horror stories with this type of product?

 

Give it a shot, it can't hurt at this point. You're right, it doesn't need to be tightened that much- a 10mm nut like that is designed for only about 40 to 80 inch-pounds as it is.

If you want, clean the stud bore as good as you can so the epoxy adheres well. If there's a smooth surface in there, you could also try to roughen it up a bit with a rat-tail file (or similar) for even better adhesion...