I bought a torque wrench from Harbor Freight thinking I was being a smart shopper.

Well I've now broken off two of my camshaft cap bolts because of my silly thinking.  One bolt came out just fine with a bolt extractor.  The other one I've managed to mess up the threads in the head.

Anyone have any idea how I can fix this problem.  My thoughts are a machine shop could drill it and re-tap it?

Please help, this GS is gonna give me a heart attack!

i heard that those break real easily on the gs. But I think you can get reverse frill bits that would work.  I dont know much about rethreading it so listen to others.

I started out with a reverse drill bit, then used the drill extractors.  Like I said the first time worked like a charm, took like 2 minutes.  The second time I started the drilling slightly off center and ended up into the aluminum - dang.

The bolts that hold the valve cover on ... or the ones that hold the camshafts itself ... The valve cover ones are easy ... remove it and put it in an oven ... then use a stick welder and tack it to a long rod sharpened to a point ... then unscrew ... Then dill and heli coil ... I had heli coils in 3 of the 4 on my 48K ...
Cool.
Srinath.

helicoils are actually stronger than stock... they're steel so they "won't" strip...  vs the craptacular aluminum that will strip if you look at it the wrong way

the ones holding the cam caps down break easyer, i bought an INCH POUND torque wrench just for those and the smaller Case bolts.  its like 6-8 ftlbs total.

I fixed threds in the block behind the rotor by taping the hole to next larger size bolt, running a medim grad bolt into the hole with alittle JBweld, cutting it off flush, then putting the clutch cover on and using a punch tapped a pilot for drill bit for the smaller size, then used the correct size tap for stock bolt.   now cam caps have a locator bolt, without seeing it with my own eyes at all angles, i cant tell you if this method would work or not

stephan, are you saying that the torque wrenches were off, which caused overtorqing?

If calibration isn't traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) then it isn't calibrated.

I've owned several of those cheap-ass "torque wrenches".  They're the next best way to strip out hardware.  A rattle wrench is the best way.

Can you post a pic?

I try not to be a snob about tools but this is one of the reasons I don't like the cheaper tools.  I've also played around with some cheap digital calipers and they were total garbage.  It would zero once, not repeat and were pretty unreliable.  I'll stick with my Starret and Mitutoyo's.  Maybe the cheapo dial calipers would work better but the ones we have at school have been dropped or something so the gears are totally stripped.

The torque wrenches I've owned or used always had one of those calibration cards that say exactly how accurate they are at the extremes of their range.  I usually try to urge people not to cheap out on torque wrenches because they are usually used on important jobs (heads, cranks, cams, wheels, pulleys, manifolds, etc).  The use may not be all that often but a nice wrench will last a long time

I want to save up for those 'clicker' torque wrenches.  I just don't feel comfortable with the deflection ones.  And, if you are torquing something down in a confined position (and can't see the scale), or can't get a constant pressure on the wrench, it's really nice.  Yeah, so I asked for a torque wrench for Christmas, and got a gift certificate to a motorcycle dealer instead  

hahahahahhaah  another sucker.  ok seriously   hahahahahahahahh sucker.  no really this time....   hahahahaha  sucker.

what you save in money on cheep tools you spend tenfold in heartache and fustration.

and now back to the laughing at you.  hahahahhaahaha  sucker.  hahahahahahahhahahhaha.

Ummmm, thanks davipu, very helpful.  

Yep, learned my lesson.  I'm going to SEARS to buy a nicer torque wrench.  I talked to a local machine shop that said they should be able to fix the problem for 20-30 bucks.  I can deal with that.

Lesson learned, move on . . .  

crapsman torque wrenches are garenteed only for a year. your best bet is to just drop the 200 bines for a crap on or mac.

If you use the clicker type torque wrenches be sure to set it back to 0 when you're through. The spring can sack out causing it to be inaccurate. Also use the smallest torque wrench for the job. I found out the hard way why a 3/4" torque wrench shouldn't be used to torque down cylinder head bolts. :lol:

Derek