Damn intermediate shaft bearing bolts stripped

[Daninski]

Ok besides all the other issues I've contended with in my ZE swap after buggering up my I.S. bearing I was reinstalling the bearing/axel when I found that two bolts are stripped in the block (thread corrosion). So now I have to over size from a size 10 metric to probably 7/16. Drill, ream, tap. I'm not a machinist, well not untill now I guess. Who ever said this was a straight swap never actually did the swap, of that I'm sure. Has anyone else had problems during their swap that no one mentioned before hand?

[se7en]

lol, those bolts strip in the k8's too..believe me, I know first hand

I highly recommend you put heli-coils in there, to keep it all metric man...

cheers

7

[Daninski]

I was going to go with a heli coil but I wasn't sure how much material I could safely remove. Going with a 7/16 bolt means less material removal if I read my chart right. Anyway damn headers still aren't here, Ebay dude waited 2 weeks to ship was suppose to be next business day shipping. Ebay liars.

[ElectricEnergy]

Its a straight swap. But I've noticed any job that is supposed to take one hour, takes me four when stuff like that happens. hell, my car was on stands for 2 weeks replacing that intermediate shaft. :p

David

[Daninski]

So we all got the shaft then. lol I'm going to the wreckers to get one off a V6 they have there. Nice to have a spare.

[marcdh]

2 of mine are barely hanging on too Do you know what size those bolts are/what helicoil kit?

[Daninski]

Ok, it's a size 10 metric. You could go for a 10.5 metric is you could find one or do what I'm doing and go with a 7/16 bolt. Heli coils area pain. If you ever have to remove the bolt the damn Heli coil comes out with them. Drill the hole, ream it to size then tap. You could try using Devcon liquid metal. Its a two part epoxy just spray the bolt with some kind of mould release agent so it won't stick to the Devcon. Once the devcon hardens you should be able to tweak the bolt tight

[hgallegos915]

bleh i only have one.. i had them stripped too :/

[Daninski]

Ok it's a #10 metric bolt fine thread. If you go to any store that sells Heli coils the helicoil package will tell you the drill and tap size. My advise is to go with a 7/16 bolt fine thread. It's the next closest size up so you will have minimal drilling. With a helicoil every time you take out the bolt the heli coil will come with it. Use just a bit of never seize on the start of your bolt thread to avoid any future corrosion from eating out your new threads. Don't use much or your could end up with a hydraulic lock that could crack your block.
Long winded as usual.

[se7en]

Um, lol, if your heli coil comes out, it was installed wrong...I install tons of these at work, and they never fail. Some people forget to remove the tab at the bottom after you thread the coil in.

But ya, 7/16 fine is what i used also you don't have to drill at all, just tap it, and thread in your bolt

Fix it sooner rather than later, though, because it can ruin the bushing(and/or seal) in the tranny...

[Daninski]

Because of my perfectionist ways I feel obliged to ream then tap. I was just rying to make things easier for him.
EDIT: I don't think there's any other simpler way to fix your intermediate shaft beariing bushing than to over size to 7/16. You can either drill and top or just tap (would advise drilling first might be to tight a fit for tap). Then put just a spot of anti-seize on the bolt before installing as the cause for failure is probably corrosion. I used a 1 3/4 bolt cut to size so I'd have some shank like the metric original. Bearings all bolted up tight now I can install the ZE.