What Are You Doing To/With Your Car Today?
Working on this Edelbrock DP4B intake I got with the engine. For whatever crazy reason the previous owner decided to drill and tap the Holley bolt pattern to 3/8"-16 threads. I really got a laugh looking at the 3/8" studs in the intake when I go it, so that means they would have had to drill out the holes in the carburetor so it would go on as well. As anyone thats been in hot rodding for awhile knows older manifolds were cast with poor quality grade aluminum. I am not a fan of Helicoils because they are never just the right length and prefer in my opinion a nicer quality repair. I cut 1" long pieces of 6061 aluminum thread rod and epoxy them into the holes. 24-hrs later I mill the studs down flush with the pad and redrill and tap the 5/16"-18 threads. In the end you end up with a thread that's 3 times stronger than the old intake material, as well as, longer threads than most Helicoil inserts provide. A little extra work, but I like the results of my efforts.
Tom
Working on this Edelbrock DP4B intake I got with the engine. For whatever crazy reason the previous owner decided to drill and tap the Holley bolt pattern to 3/8"-16 threads. I really got a laugh looking at the 3/8" studs in the intake when I go it, so that means they would have had to drill out the holes in the carburetor so it would go on as well. As anyone thats been in hot rodding for awhile knows older manifolds were cast with poor quality grade aluminum. I am not a fan of Helicoils because they are never just the right length and prefer in my opinion a nicer quality repair. I cut 1" long pieces of 6061 aluminum thread rod and epoxy them into the holes. 24-hrs later I mill the studs down flush with the pad and redrill and tap the 5/16"-18 threads. In the end you end up with a thread that's 3 times stronger than the old intake material, as well as, longer threads than most Helicoil inserts provide. A little extra work, but I like the results of my efforts.
Tom
