TOPIC:

OKay so I am an idiot -

I stripped out on or my spark plug holes -

I have been reading about a helical coil. But what about metal down in the engine now?

Anyone have any experience with this process?

1980 kz1000

Helicoil will fix. I would suggest pulling the head to do work. Stripped hole needs to be drilled out as per Helicoil instructions and retapped. This will create metal filings. Your call on wether to pull head or fix inplace. You might get lucky and not trap metal filings between piston and cylinder wall or get stuck under valve seat. Again I would pull head.

You could try slathering the dril bit and the tap with grease before you drill & tap. you do however still stand a very good chance of some bits dropping in.

If it were me and it was an outside cylinder, where I could get a good look at what was happening, I would give it a go, without removing the head. BUT, I would take it VERY slowly to give all the cuttings a fighting chance of sticking to the grease.

Your call.

Your not alone I stripped my spark plug threads also and I used the grease method with great success. As mentioned take your time and you may have to apply new grease if the old grease gets full of alum shavings before cutting through the spark plug hole.

tw

I personally would pull the head if I thought any of it fell into the cylinder.

i just did # 1 on my 650. use the greese and go slow. you will get metal in the cylinder. i used a shop vac and sucked it all out first before i started it. also use loctite red on the helicoil or it will blow by the insert. make sure your valves are closed first or the 5/8 drill bit will hit a open valve. this step is very important!suck it all out and you should be fine. now we all know the importance of anti seize. i did mine removeing # 1 . no crossthread involved. start your plugs with a old plug boot and you will never crossthread a plug again. the plug boot will slip before it crossthreads. god i hope this works for you! pulling a head without upgrading is a lously job. it just takes the life and desire out of you. don't beat yourself up, we've all been there!.

Post edited by: kawsakiman, at: 2006/05/11 20:34

If you're determined to leave the head on, you might want to shoemaker together a step-down end for a shop vac hose. The standard vac hose end is abour 1.5". I've used a variety of pipe, PVC, tubing and whater else I could dig up to wind up with 8 or 10" of 1/4" neoprene gas line at the end. And duct tape. LOTS of duct tape.

Fish the 1/4" line down the plug hole and wiggle it around as best as possible.

And don't try out the 1/4" end on your finger with the vacum on - it'll leave a mark.