<VV> Stripped plug hole

[Hugo Miller]

Aluminium swarf can still get trapped in the top piston land. I would 
like to have a cylinder full of the stuff.
To which end, I've been thinking - how about getting a piece of string, 
coating it with grease, and stuffing it into the plug hole with the 
piston somewhere near TDC. Then turn the engine by hand till the 
combustion chamber is full of the rope so nothing can get it. Then 
drill, tap & helicoil or whatever. The swarf shouldn't be able to get 
into the cylinder, and if it does, it will stick to the string when you 
pull it all out with a dental hook or similar. I've never tried this, 
but it sounds good in theory (to me at any rate!).

On 2020-01-18 16:41, FrankDuVal via VirtualVairs wrote:
> Swarf? Not an issue! It's aluminum. Just crank the engine over (start
> on 5 cylinder) after the operation and blow the swarf out. Done it
> many times with the KD inserts.
>
> If I'm getting heads welded, it is to fix dropped valve seats.
>
> BTW, Danny Otey in Roanoke used to use 18mm plugs in Corvair heads
> many times for repairing blown out plugs to keep the cars on the 
> road.
> We did lots of things back then to keep people driving Corvairs when
> they were cheap transportation. ggg
>
> I called Champion a few years ago and talked with someone for the
> proper 18 mm washer gasket type plug to use in a Corvair, and after
> the laughter, got an answer. Posted somewhere on Corvair Center 
> Forum.
>
> Frank DuVal
>
> On 1/18/2020 5:41 AM, Hugo Miller via VirtualVairs wrote:
>> Are you going to attempt this in situ? A 7/16 drill is going to kick 
>> out a heck of a lot of swarf - how are you going to contain it? A more 
>> permanent solution would be to pull the head off & get it welded & 
>> re-tapped? I've often found that you can spend more time faffing about 
>> with shortcuts than it takes to do the job properly from the get-go. 
>> In my opinion it would have been better to have all the threads 
>> helicoiled or fitted with steel inserts from new. That would be a 
>> permanent solution. These heads must all have had the plugs taken out 
>> & re-fitted (and probably over-tightened) dozens of times over the 
>> last 50-60 years, so many of them are bound to be worn and/or 
>> weakened.
>>
>> On 2020-01-18 03:46, Smitty via VirtualVairs wrote:
>>> It’s been a few days since I raised the subject, so here’s an 
>>> update.
>>> Just as a reminder, the hole I have was repaired with what appears 
>>> to
>>> be a KD insert which failed and pulled out.  Next a repair was
>>> attempted using what appears to be a BigSert.  It also pulled out.
>>> Not condemning anyone or any product.   it just is what it is. So
>>> doing some research on line I find there are many types of repair
>>> inserts for huge holes.  BigSert being my repair of choice I 
>>> quickly
>>> found out that wasn’t going to happen.  Price for a set of tools 
>>> and
>>> an insert was between $600 and $900.  I finally hooked up with the
>>> Thread kits Company in California.  Talked to a gent named Gene on 
>>> the
>>> phone, who took the time to discuss the problem and offered several
>>> options.  I chose to use the EasyLock insert at a cost of around 
>>> $10 .
>>> The big drawback for some folks would be the tools to prepare the
>>> hole.  In my case a 7/16 drill would be required (not cheap), and a
>>> 3/4 x 16 tap (not cheap) .  Just happened to have those.  I ordered
>>> the inserts today.
>>> I’m not one who gives testimonials easily but I just had to give an
>>> attaboy for Gene and the help he gave me on this project. Smitty
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