92 240sx; oil leak from valve cover, has stripped bolt hole.

[gehzumteufel]

Does anyone know what size heli-coil i need to use to repair a stripped valve cover bolt? its the very front one right above the distributor. its a different size than the ones behind it. i need to get this fixed asap.

[NISTECH]

6x1.00

[gehzumteufel]

awesome thanks

[gehzumteufel]

and btw have you ever used these before?

[NISTECH]

Not on V/C bolts but yes I have installed many. My idler pulley gear is bolted in a helicoil.

[gehzumteufel]

nistech - question on using these. whats the process? what tools will i need? is there anything i should do to prep the surface? and since its the vc bolt i know i need to tape and cover the cam area as best as possible. is there any material i should use that works better than others?

[s13sr20chris]

i have done a few. yeah cover the cam with rags and stuff and put grease in the hole to make the metal chips stick instead of fly. you drill out the hole with the exact size drill bit the kit tells you to get. you want a decent bit. it will cost a couple dollars. do not use a wood bit. has to be for metal. go for high speed steel, titanium nitride coated, or something like that. then you tap it out with supplied tap. the tap is a helicoil tap and absolutely useless for anything else. this will require either a tap wrench or an adjustable wrench because the tap drive is square. then you screw the threads into the threads you just cut and break the tabs off.

walla.

[gehzumteufel]

ok so if there is extra just break/cut it off?

[s13sr20chris]

extra threads? yeah, you can ditch that stuff.

[gehzumteufel]

awesome thanks man..im going to be doing this in a couple weeks when i have money..lol

[xsblacksx]

vwalla! your done