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Heli Coil

4K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  BstMech 
#1 ·
ok so this car I am about to talk about is no where near a hot rod--My fiancee's daily driver (commuter car) is a 1990 geo storm with like 140,000 miles on it--but the top end was rebuilt about one year ago--anyway the motor blew a spark plug out of the head and spilled gas everywhere over the engine block. So i got the spark plug back in but it feels like it just wants to keep turning. So I wnt to put a heli coil in but I have a problem--the heads are aluminum so I will not be able to get the shavings out--what should i do? Do you think the aluminum shavings will blow through the engine with no problem cause they are soft. I know what you are thinking throw this car in the garbage--and let me tell you I would love to but we are both pretty broke now going to grad school and all so throwing it to the junkyard is out of the question---any thoughts?
 
#3 ·
I hate to be the "devil's advocate" but I think I'd pull the head and take it to a machine shop. Trying to tap a hole STRAIGHT and putting in a helicoil on a head in place will be extremely difficult. AND if you scr*w it up ...now you have to replace a head. I'm betting you could pick up a junk yard head cheaper then playing that game. Just my $0.02, GOOD LUCK! ...Mark
 
#4 ·
Considering the car has a lot of miles on it and I assume you are on somewhat of a budget and can't afford $200.00 plus for parts+labor. You can get what is called a "solid" heli-coil spark plug thread repair kit from the large auto retailers even Wal-Mart had them. This kit has a self aligning tap and three solid thread coils.

Remove your spark plug. Turn the engine till you can see that piston is up in the cylinder. Coat the tap with heavy grease and turn it into the head, cutting threads. Back out the tap a few times and clean the cutting edges recoating with grease each time. When the tap breaks thru the other side remove it. Then take an air source and blow into the splug hole to blow out chips.
Take a can of Brakleen and clean out the hole, remove all traces of grease, then apply locktite sealer to the threads and install it till the seat lines uo with the original spark plug seat. Then take the setting tool that comes in the kit and sharply strike it straight down. this will set the insert so it will not come out.

The nay-sayers will criticise this but virtually all the used car dealers do this to every bad s-plug thread car they get, new or old!
 
#7 ·
If you buy any rebuilt head for a geo for $300.00 ya need to be slapped a few times! :p

Rebuilt head for the 1.3 should'nt cost more than $100.00, used should be much less.

Do you need me to provide some links?

The gasket set at the highest is about $65.00.
 
#8 ·
87442lover said:
If you buy any rebuilt head for a geo for $300.00 ya need to be slapped a few times! :p

Rebuilt head for the 1.3 should'nt cost more than $100.00, used should be much less.

Do you need me to provide some links?

The gasket set at the highest is about $65.00.
Lol what kinda rebuilt heads are you buying, sounds like someone is doing 1/2 the job
 
#11 ·
Pull the head...reuse the head gasket if cash is really tight. tapping the head on the bench is a heck of a lot easier and your likely hood of success will increase 100 times if you have never done this before.

For what it's worth a machine shop might have the helicoil your looking for and could retap the hole for the price of the kit saving you the work.

How long could it take to pull the head off a GEO anyway? Couple of hours? I wouldn't take the chance of a small particle getting stuck on a valve and burning the valve or the seat.
 
#12 ·
its a geo

I would and have done the tap set that you screw it in to the remaining holes and it cuts the oversized holes at the same time. then install the insert and strike with the supplies tool to "seat" the insert with out problems shouldn't be hard to do on a 4 cyl its all in front of you.
Jesse
 
#13 ·
Head gaskets are NEVER to be used over again on bi-metal motors, H&ll they hardly last with new gaskets and bolts. The cost of the heli-coil kit at Wal-Mart was $12.00. Machine shop gets $20.00+ plus cost of Heli- $8.00 plus cost of cleaning head,$15.00, plus a used aluminum head is going to need resurfacing in 90 percent of the cars. I Do it every day.
 
#14 ·
[email]BOBCRMAN@aol.com[/email] said:
Head gaskets are NEVER to be used over again on bi-metal motors, H&ll they hardly last with new gaskets and bolts. The cost of the heli-coil kit at Wal-Mart was $12.00. Machine shop gets $20.00+ plus cost of Heli- $8.00 plus cost of cleaning head,$15.00, plus a used aluminum head is going to need resurfacing in 90 percent of the cars. I Do it every day.
No offense Bob but I have reused head gaskets on many aluminum motors with no problems...almost nobody retorques them that is the reason why they sometimes don't last. Up here Walmart doesn't carry anything like helicoils...especially spark plug helicoils.


Not looking for an argument, just offering my opinion.:)
 
#16 ·
reusing head gaskets

when i was going to vo-tech in our engine course we had like 25 engines on stands. these are the engines we used to learn about tearing engines down all the measurements and also putting it back together. I was working on a old chevy inline 6 we reused gaskets that weren't broken and head gaskets were always reused unless defective then engine i worked on had been pulled apart like 23 times before me and I had it all put back together with out a head gasket leak ohly leak was lifter covers that was easily fixed by straightening them. yeas it wasn't a bi-metal engine but you can get away with reusing stuff its noit like he wants it to last forever. I would still go to a parts housse and buy the kit that cuts the oversized threads as it uses whats left of the original threads to pilot the tool.
Jesse
 
#17 ·
This brings up an interesting thought.

I wonder if just spraying the head with some copper gasket stuff would work with no head gasket. Hmmm.. I will have to try this one day when I get my hands on another junker :p lol, probably spray oil and coolant everywhere.
 
#18 ·
messes

would probally make about the same mess as a guy I was working next to he had pulled a ford 4.6 out of a truck pulled had it on the stand pulled the front cover then went to flip it upside down but he had forgot to drain the last of the anti freeze and the oil made on hell of a mess on the floor you wopuld probally have the same nasty mess. but would be fun and a learning curve. almost like taking an engine and seeing what all you can put down the carb before it blows. who cares its all ready on the trailer on the way to the yard kinda fun.
Jesse
 
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