oh... crap.....

[l3uddha]

a rainy day here, so I took the carbs apart to clean them.
I also finally got around to swapping the stock brass phillips-head bolts for some steel allen bolts of the same sizes. GREAT! (I'm thinking)

everything looked good.... put everything back together, when all of the sudden:


I OVERTIGHTENED A BOLT!!!! AHHHHHH

one of the two bolts to access the needle was overtightened.... with a steel bolt. not good.
there was some stripping involved... and I wish it was the bolt that got stripped. 

the thread on the carb body itself has been shaved. the bolt no longer tightenes at all, it doesn't seal the cover, and I need a solution. 

what's easiest?
get bolt of the next width up and try to muscle it in? I think it can be done considering how easy it was to strip it in the first place.

I've been searching for an hour & cant find any info about this here.

[Turd Ferguson]

No offense guys, but this is EXACTLY why there are brass screws inside the carbs.  I don't EVER reccomend changing them out for a different material.  Not smart.

Sorry, but you'll likely need a new carb body.  There is no real permanent fix for this kind of problem.  Your last resort before getting a new carb would be to tap it out one size larger and use a helicoil, but in some cases this wont work.

Good luck.

-Turd.

[Wrecent_Wryder]

[778

[pres589]

If there is decent material thickness there, what about a Heli-coil insert?

[Turd Ferguson]

Your last resort before getting a new carb would be to tap it out one size larger and use a helicoil

-Turd.

[red_phil]

I seem to remember that those holes in the carb have space underneath them to put a nut in and use a longer bolt.

.

[hmmmnz]

failing the nut and bolt idea, retap the tread to the next screw size up, a tap should only set you back a couple of dollars

[l3uddha]

I seem to remember that those holes in the carb have space underneath them to put a nut in and use a longer bolt.

.

thanks for the quick responses, you guys are great!
I've been driving since I made the first post, so I got a chance to think about it some. I'm juggling a few ideas in my head.

It's hard to describe it, but where a longer bolt should come out, there is a tube instead of a hole. this tube runs the length of both carbs and on the other side there is a bolt. the bolt holds the two carbs together. luckily the bolt is on the opposite side of the part I stripped, so the tube is hollow.

If I were going to do the longer nut & bolt, the bolt would rest against the curved underside of this tube. I would also have to drill through the underside of it for the bolt to pass through.

I dont think I'm going to try to force a wider bolt in there; I dont want to put it under too much stress and break something else. In my searching I read nightmares of carbs cracking. that would suck donkeyballs.

Before I go the nut & bolt route and drill that hole, I'm going to try to use a Tech (self-tapping) screw, which will route itself a path through the underside of the ring and hopefully hold. I'm pretty confident it will; there isn't too much stress upon it, other than holding that cover down. If it doesnt hold I still have the nut & bolts to fall back upon.

I think I'm gonna call out of work tomorrow and do this (dont tell my boss!).
I'll keep u all posted and post a pic of the result. After thinking about it, there are plenty of easy, cheap, effective solutions. buying a new carb-body isn't an option 

[Egaeus]

I'd seriously consider the helicoil. 

[l3uddha]

the Heli Coil kits go for over $120. Although probably the best fix, I think that route is a little extreme for this application. Well, if I HAD one I'd undoubtedly use it, but I cant justify spending that much money on an emergency like this.

we'll find out tomorrow how it goes. I really think something as simple as a Tech screw will work; I use them all the time & they hold firm under far more stress. If not: a longer bolt and two nuts to lock it down will definitly be fine. maybe a tiny (ten second) inconvenience to get them off when opening up the carbs again, but very worth the $1 compared to $120+ for something I'll (hopefully) not need again.

[pres589]

$120?  Take the carb in to a machine shop, someone decent that does a lot of engine rebuilding and machine work, and say "Hey, you guys do helicoils?" and find out what they have that will fit your carb.  You'll pay for the insert and that's pretty much it.

I had to put 4 helicoils in an aluminum cylinder head (car, not bike) and I think the inserts cost me a total of $10, and half of those times they loaned me the "stick" to install the things.  I was doing all of this out of a Napa that had a machine shop in the back.

[l3uddha]

yay, problem solved for 17 cents.


I slowly put it in with a drill & it can be backed up & retightened by hand. I thought it was gonna be a hack but it came out pretty well. 

note: you cant't tell from the picture but that rubber hose is nowhere near the tip of the self-tapper.

[hmmmnz]

you put that sucker in there and you were worried about retapping to a slightly larger thread lol it worked though and you saved yourself $1.83 hehe

[l3uddha]

equal to one double cheeseburger and another one with a large bite taken out of it by the cook

[l3uddha]

you put that sucker in there and you were worried about retapping to a slightly larger thread lol it worked though and you saved yourself $1.83 hehe

oh well the pic may be a little deceiving.
the screw I put in isn't thick enough to mess with the hole at all. I didnt want to mess up the carb body any more in case it didnt work.

the only part of the carb body that the screw dug into was where it exits- that tube thingy that connects the two carbs.

there is a notch in the cap and the body that keeps the cover from shifting as long as it is held down by the screw.

It's hard to describe.... but it works just fine.
I've been checking it daily since I put it in and it is still tight. I guess I'll relax some.

now in case this somehow doesnt work, I can always fall back on other options like just using a fatter self tapper that will actually thread the length of the hole, or I can use the nut & bolt idea.

I'm hesitant to do a Heli Coil on this... because if you look at it, there really isn't much room around the hole to drill it any wider.

anyways... it's all good.

[hmmmnz]

id stay away from helicoil, i have never had one work properly, and you still have to retap the hole, but to some ungodly size, i think you'd be asking for trouble if you went that route,
you'll have to get the award for biggest bodge of the week
concrats

[sledge]

I wouldnt try a helicoil, 2 reasons: Cutting small diameter fine threads with a tap in soft alloy is difficult, the metal tends rip rather than cut, instead it needs to be formed using a Thread-rolling tap. Secondly  there is probably not enough border around the hole to allow for a helicoil, you are likely to break the corner off when you tighten the screw up if you are not careful. You need some epoxy putty. Devcon F is regarded as the best on the market and will solve the problem, Thats assuming you can get hold of some. Mix it, fill the hole, let it set then drill and re-tap, it will be as strong as the parent metal. Problem is it will cost more than a 2ndhand Carb` However there are cheaper and similar epoxy putty type products available. Do a search for "Epoxy putty" and go from there.

http://www.devcon.com/devconfamilyproduct.cfm?familyid=107&catid=15

[l3uddha]

whoa that stuff is great!