LOL One day I'll finish this thing

[Jonathan]

This is turning into the millenium project

All done and dusted - piecing it together now, tbh it's gone really well apart from the time scale.

Went to do bolt # 13 up which is an M10 into a blind hole in the case at 50nm.....it's getting close to the required torque - taking it steady then all of the sudden the torque falls off and I get that terrified feeling the thread has stripped 1/8 turn later and bingo....1 stripped thread in the case

It went in fine to start with, hole was clean etc but tbh it's steel on aluminium.

Any options ?

Helicoil is my 1st thought but I dont know if I have enough surrounding meat on that part to do it - infact im 99% sure there isn't. Just wondering if I can fill the hole with an aluminium based putty like Devcon make, done that before when fixing normal bolts into walls and it's worked a treat but the last thing I really want to do now is to take ALL the gearbox apart again

It's counterpart has gone in alright, but again, you get the funny feeling it's not good.

Christ knows when I'm gonna get this bloody thing finished

Open to the floor - Any ideas ?

[Jonathan]

The only other thing I can think which is what we always used to do with soft metals anyways, is to split the case and tap into the stripped hole with a 12mm or 1/2" BSF tap.

The get the bolt for that hole and turn the shank down to 10mm o/d, cut a male thread onto the end of that. Screw the large end into the case and then put a nut on the other side one the case is back together.

This is like the Elise, poxy thing is made 90% of aluminium and the slightest stiff hole and plop goes the thread, this way you wind steel onto steel.

[98GT3]

The only other thing I can think which is what we always used to do with soft metals anyways, is to split the case and tap into the stripped hole with a 12mm or 1/2" BSF tap.

The get the bolt for that hole and turn the shank down to 10mm o/d, cut a male thread onto the end of that. Screw the large end into the case and then put a nut on the other side one the case is back together.

This is like the Elise, poxy thing is made 90% of aluminium and the slightest stiff hole and plop goes the thread, this way you wind steel onto steel.

Jon,

If you can tap into the stripped hole then surely you should be able to fit a Helicoil? Confused!

Phil

[Jonathan]

I was always under the impression helicoils need a lot more meat around the thread to wind the repair into...dunno off to the bolt shop again tomorrow to have a look, if I can get it to fit, great.

If it works, might do the other one at the same time, saves faffing about....one day.....I'll have it back in.

[98GT3]

I was always under the impression helicoils need a lot more meat around the thread to wind the repair into...dunno off to the bolt shop again tomorrow to have a look, if I can get it to fit, great.

If it works, might do the other one at the same time, saves faffing about....one day.....I'll have it back in.

Jon,

An M10 Helicoil would have a tapping size of around M12 - it isn't M12, as the thread pitch of the coil has to be M10 obviously! (special tap).

If it was me I would definately go the Helicoil route, I have used them before on friends stuff they have monkeyed (is that a real word?) with a very tidy result - quite alot of high spec manufacturers use them as standard in alloy parts, where strength rather than cost is the prime concern.

Phil

[Jonathan]

As I say I was under the impression from using them before, but seems I was wrong.

Called around this evening, an M10 needs a 10.4mm (stuffed if i can remember the imperial eq.) hole which kinda exists now so shouldn't be too bad - currently praying to the beer god to make sure its OK.

Nearly had a heart attack when I couldn't get the case apart, this blue stuff SJ sold me which is from renault and is an anerobic sealant, decided to almost weld the 1 halves together.....complete joke, had to use a scissor jack and 2 bolts in the bell housing to prise the 2 halves apart - thought the case was going to crack, was that close to resigning the project to the parts bin if it did - what a nightmare day !

It'll all be over one day.

[bramble111s]

Respect! I can only begin to comprehend the dedication required to work on parts like this!

Chin up and all that! Glad to hear you got there! Must be some relief!

somewhat off topic, just noticed your new wheels on the GT3?! Pray tell, what are they? I like!

[98GT3]

Good job Jon,

I think I would be inclined to do both while you are at it, sod's law says the other one will let go when you put it back together again!

I bet you're wondering how my manifold paint is doing!

Phil

[Jonathan]

Ta, TBH I do like doing stuff like this but its a steep learning curve. the work itself is a doddle IF you had someone to guide you through it, manuals are great but they don't answer questions or concerns.

It's the time as well it takes to rectify stuff like this, its soul breaking sometimes esp when you have to part the case and start over - just finished 90mins cleaning the meeting faces up on the gearbox halves again.

Wheels are OZ Saturns from a V8, got them for styling mostly. Feels a lot more planted but in the same light it's less lively and transfers the grip into the chassis causing more body roll, needs the new dampers imo.

Phil - hahah, go on tell me !

Thanks for the posts - cheered me up, and YES I will be doing both, if you peer into the 'good' thread you can see the threads have become slightly flattened where there should be nice and pointed, it just didn't feel right and I did pull a little swarf out as well....sods law it would happen again !

[98GT3]

Phil - hahah, go on tell me !

Thanks for the posts - cheered me up, and YES I will be doing both, if you peer into the 'good' thread you can see the threads have become slightly flattened where there should be nice and pointed, it just didn't feel right and I did pull a little swarf out as well....sods law it would happen again !

Hi Jon, glad to hear you're not letting you problems get the better of you!

OK onto manifold paint, as I know you're dying to know

Before I give my results I would like to say that this manifold has seen the full extent of 5 months of our British weather, my car does not live in an air conditioned, de-humidified garage and wheeled out for sunny days only.

All the paint is still on with no signs of flaking at all, it does show some VERY light rust staining in it's more exposed areas. These results are from half a can as it was left over from my mates project - in hindsight it could probably benefitted from a few more coats, but I never expected it to stay on anyway. My driving is extremely spirited so I doubt that it would ever see any higher temps than it aready has.

All in all, I think this is a result and would recommend it as being up to the job!

Phil

Edited October 18, 2006 by 98GT3

[Jonathan]

Cool - the POR-20 (note the #) paint I trialed on my manifold is still ther ein spirit but the manifold was so rusty anyways - and get my cast iron work always gets cherry red.

I'll definatly try some out when I do a manifold chane, it HAS to prolong the life of it somewhat.

Helicoiling in a minute - wish me good fortune.

(oh go on)

[Advantage]

Good luck!

[Jonathan]

That's disturbing

Anyways it worked (for now) - very scarey but nice and easy.

Case halves together, all sorted.

Just missing the 2 clutch housing location dowels now

Wonder how critical they are....

[98GT3]

That's disturbing

Anyways it worked (for now) - very scarey but nice and easy.

Case halves together, all sorted.

Just missing the 2 clutch housing location dowels now

Wonder how critical they are....

Hi Jon,

Helicoils...........don't you just love em!

As far as the dowels are concerned, I would say fit them. When I built the 5.8 V8 engine for my mates car I know that when we mounted it to the after-market bell housing and gearbox I had to clock the gearbox input shaft in relation to the spigot bearing on the flywheel. They also supplied a number of offset dowels as the after-market parts can sometimes not align perfectly - it had to be quite accurate.

Phil