t rained all day Saturday, and my wife had her mom to visit with, so I
had some time to start putting the motor back together on my '74 B.
Crankshaft and main bearing caps went in without a hitch, and the new
shallow dish pistons gleamed beautifully from freshly overbored
cylinders. Next step, the new camshaft: Pre-installed the sprocket
to check the endfloat, glooped lots of lube on the bearings, inserted
the shaft carefully so as not to ding a bearing with a cam lobe, found
the correct position for the retaining plate, started twisting in the
1/4" bolts, and then zzziippp! Twisted a head right off one of the
bolts.
I tried to grab it with a vice-grip, but there wasn't enough bolt
sticking out to get a grip on. Next step, I drilled a hole in the
middle of the bolt, inserted a screw-extractor, gently tapped it with a
ball peen to set the threads. Connected a tee-handle, gently applied
pressure, felt the threads take a bite, added more torque, and then
piinnngg! The screw extractor broke off in the bolt.
Now I have a real mess. If I'd have left it alone, I could have drilled
the whole mess out oversize, and installed a heli-coil. But I don't own
a drill bit that can chew into the hardened metal of a screw-extractor.
I know, because I tried.
If any of you old hands or slick whippersnappers can help me out here, I
sure would be grateful. I'm plumb out of ideas (and the ones I had sure
didn't do me much good.)
Thanks in advance.
Matt Kulka
'74 B - whose life is dangling by a thread.
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