awilli6

Hi guys,

I'm doing an intake refresh on my 87. Putting the water bridge back on, I tightened the bolt holding the water bridge to the block a little to tight and now it won't hold.

Any idea how to fix this? Do I just need to get a slightly larger bolt? Wider or longer?

Thanks for your help

Ash

Bertrand Daoust

Put an Helicoil and you will be good.
I used one on one of my WP bolt. Easy to install and works perfectly.

http://www.repairengineering.com/helicoil.html

1989porsche928

Remove anything you can out of the way. You have to drill perfectly straight, then tap it perfectly straight. Do not force the tap, they can snap inside your engine. Then you would have to try and drill a tap out and create a giant hole (screwing up a screw-up). I would practice on a junk piece of metal if you never did this before.

awilli6

Thanks guys. I was so close to getting it back together without any issues.

linderpat

this is critical (ask me how I know). Also, I would use a timesert rather than helicoil. Timeserts are solid, threaded, metal barrels that create a near perfect fix, so long as done properly. Not hard to do, just need a steady hand. The trouble that I have had with helicoils is that they flex, and when threading them into the hole, you can get bound up and create additional problems. Plus, they are not as strong as timeserts.

jeff spahn

+928 on timesert. Helicoils are not the right answer.

jheis

Timeserts are probably indicated on a head stud - water bridge - not so much. Helicoil will do just fine.

James