What the .... Heli Coil

[Tigershark]

What is it.. How does it work.. are the questions on my mind. have any of you guys had the unfortunate chance to use it? i just stripped the subframe bolts on my the Cut and now will have to find a way to safely put it back together.. it not cool. I lost my steering right in yhe middle of a busy intersection. any one ever used it before? Helicoil... I had never heard of it before.

[mfewtrail]

http://www.roadstarmagazine.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=233

 

I've never used them on anything other than stripped out intake manifolds and stuff like that before, they work great.

[Justin]

I'm not so sure I'd trust a helicoil to hold my subframe to the car. When they broke on my '91 GP the Pontiac dealer either drilled the old ones out or cut holes in the unibody to get the captive nuts out, then installed new bolts and nuts. Did your bolts strip out or break? They usually rust out, but in your case I'd probably cut a couple access holes in the unibody and install new bolts with nuts to prevent it from happening again.

[Crazy K]

I think that would be too dangerous!!!!!! IE IMPOSSIBLE

 

ummmmmmmmm Which one(s)?

 

I broke a bolt once, which required me to replace a 'nut', basically a heavy duty diamond shapped piece of plate steel with a dimple in the center, and the hole through the dimple is threaded.

 

If the bolts are stripped, they can be gotten from a j/y and any gen 1 or 1.5 up to about 98. If it is 15 mm it should be correct. The same car can provide the 'nuts' if you can access them.

 

 

You need a 1/2 inch drive ratch, 15mm socket (preferable 6 point), a short 1/2 inch drive extensi8on if you have one (for ease of knuckles), one hydraulic jack,

 

I removed a 'nut' by...... Blocking the frame, with a first jack(or junkyard rim or something), then turning the bolt all the way out. Tread it back in about 1/4 of the way. Remove the socket from the ratchet (and extension), then proceeded to use the hydraulic jack to raise the car by the bolt via the sicket. This should cause the wieght of the car to break the spot welds on the 'nut's' retaining cage... with a sickening pop and sudden inch or so drop of the car.

Remove the hydrualic jack, remove the nut, and unscrew the bolt... Then remove the 'nut' through a small access hole.

 

TIP: a j/y car where the front bumper substructure has been removed will be the most obvious and easiest 'nut' to salvage if no new one is availible or if you are cheap(like me!). An hopefully a j/y one will not be too rusty. if it is try a different vehicle.

 

The front ones can be easiest accessed by removing the front bumper and it's assembly, although i think there is an access hole about 6 inches back if you want to play 'go fish'.

 

For the ones by the fire wall, I pulled the carpet back and cut an access hatch.

I utilized a cut off wheel to make a three sided cut, and bent the flap up. ....about 4" by 4" by 4" cut directly behind the bolt location. This gave almost free roam to the body cavity. When the task was completed, I bent the metal back in position and sealed the hole with RTV sealant, and laid a small square of some thick dropcloth plastic coated with rtv to ensure a tight seal.

 

Trust me, a friend, with thick gloves here would greatly help. I would polish off as much rust as i could from the bolt, if necessary, and set the nut in position. Carefully hand tighten the bolt, (you may need the frined to hold it in position while you hand tighten.... If you are lucky you may be able to get in all but the last turn tight.... simply tighten while your friend hold the bolt down while you attack it with a hand tool

 

I put some thead lock on the shaft.... and once it was tight I rubbed the rest of it with grease and sprayed a bit of penetrant to help prevent rust, in case I gotta mess with it again. Then sealed the access hole as i stated above.

 

 

Make sure you remove the retainer cage from the cavity unless you like annoying rattles.

[slick]

Personally, I would drill it out and re-tap it.