Re: Potentiel Expensive Mistake Upper water pocket cover
I read some posts on this in the past and it does not look like anyone has ever been successfull.
i've made the mistake, and i was successful in the repair.
ya could try the glue like jj says and if that works count your blessings. if not, ya can drill them out. though no easy task and yer only gonna have one shot at it. ya mess up the extraction and ya'll be getting that new drive.
achris helped me out with the idea of making a steel block to guide a drill down the center of the bolt for extraction. i used a 1/2'' thick block of steel and then used the gasket as a guide for drilling pilot holes for my drill bit to run in. i had three broke off. i used the jig for the first two and freehanded the third. the free hand drilled one actually turned out the best, right down the center of the bolt. only thing left of it was the screw threads still in the cast alum.
some notes from memory. 1st, them bolts are stainless steel. one of the harder (material wize) things i've had to drill out. use a very sharp drill bit and go very slow rpms on the drill and use lub. watch for the drill bit cutting the metal. if the metal turns to dust the bit ain't sharp enough. don't even think about drifting off the bolt. you get into the cast aluminum i'll bet your done. i would think it impossible to relocate the center on the bolt if you drift.
you'll need long everything. long drill bits. long tap etc.
my initial goal was to drill and extract the broke off bolt. that didn't work out as mine never got removed and they were corroded in place. i ended up drilling them all the way out to tap size. still didn't work out and ended up going to helicoil size. that worked. tapped for a helicoil and reinstall. if ya get that far, be careful with the tap too. push on it. that cast aluminum is the opposite of the hard ss bolts. ya can't even trust that the tap will be pulled into the alum. when tapping as its so soft you'll just wipe out the screw threads. so push on the tap, if you get that far.
good luck. go slow, make a plan.
bet i spent the better part of 40 hrs easy to get my thing together plus do the deed.
don't know how far the search function goes back, but somewhere in some of my 1st threads was the grief i encountered over that stupid water pocket cover...
