I'm working on my daughter's 91 2wd - 22re. I replaced the head gasket about 1 1/2 years ago and had one of the head bolts stripped so I put in a heli coil, and only torqued it to about 54 lbs because I didn't want to risk stripping out the heli coil. Well, after a couple of months I was getting water in the oil again so I finally tore into it again. (It's been sitting and waiting for me to work on it.) Anyhow, when I took the head off I noticed that the heli coil had come out about 1/4 ". The top thread was actually exposed above the block surface, so tonight I started working with it and I actually unscrewed the coil out of the hole, it wasn't hard to do. Problem is, it looks like the threads in the hole are ruined now. I brushed it out w/ a steel brush and tiny pieces of the thread came out. I can look down into the hole and see that the bottom half is still in tact but the top half is messed up, (stripped). DANG!

My question / options:

Is it possible to find a kit to do a second heli coil type thing? I would have to drill it again (larger than the 31/64ths) and put in a larger coil?

Another option I may have is that I found an 87 22re someone is selling w/ only 104K for $150 obo. I'm really tempted to buy that engine and put my newly machined head on it. Is an 87 22re block the same as a 91 22re block?

I'm headed to bed but I'll check for answers in the morning.

Thanks!

 

I work as an injection molding mechanic. We use a thread insert called EZ-LOK. These are great. They hold much better than an helicoil. Downside is they are large. they are threaded on the outside 1 to 2 sizes larger than the thread size desired. Also you would have to buy the tap, and drill. These wont work in all situations. We get them through grainger. I don't know where you might get them locally, other than grainger. The ones that I am talking about are the first one in the following image. It has dry threadlocker already on the threads and comes in various heights.

 

I'm thinking a headbolt is not something you want to helicoil.

Yes, the 87 and 91 blocks are exactly the same, provided the 87 is non-turbo.

 

Would just drilling and tapping the hole for a larger bolt not work?

 

Thanks guys. I'll try to talk to the folks at Grainger and see if they have something that might help.

 

No it wouldn't work- you have to get the bolt through the head as well so that would mean drilling the hole in the head larger too.