well im paranoid now... my clutch slave cylinder somehow backed off a bolt and got all controted and almost made my truck undriveable, except i did some creative driving and was able to drive without the clutch all the way home, through the city even....

the tranny case i have seems to be aluminum. the current bolts holding the slave in are m8 sized. i replaced both bolts with new ones, and lock washers, and loctite, but am still concerned. i think the holes may actually be stripped... what is my best option? try to find helacoils? try to epoxy the holes shut then drill and retap them?

 

If the holes are stripped I would just drill and tap to a larger size, doesn't even have to be metric, just use whatever will work without going too big.

 

the prolem with bigger holes and retapping and all that is that there is very little room to work with, and the clutch slave cylinder has certain sized holes, that wont accomodate a larger screw, and if i bored out that hole, would structural integrity be compromised? also that would mean that replacing the slave later down the line will also require modification to the slave cylinder as well.. the slave doesnt seem like a part i want to customize...

 

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Maybe you could somehow attach a thick steel plate over or behind the stripped holes and drill correct size holes in that plate to mount the slave cylinder.

 

supernerd, that i dea wont work... the holes are threaded into the aluminum body of the tranny case

 

If I remember correctly, the slave cylinder should be attached to the bellhousing of the transmission, meaning that there should be some space in there to either put that threaded plate or put some grade 8 bolts all the way through with some washers inside the bellhousing to hold them on. That should work as long as the bolts do not interfere with anything inside the bellhousing.

 

waht about helacoils? or the epoxy method with taping new holes?

 

Helicoils might be worth a try. Epoxy does not seem like it would be as strong as the helicoils. Welding the aluminum and drilling and taping new holes might work. Same idea as the epoxy but it would be a lot stronger. Try the helicoils first. It seems like it would be the easiest.

 

I have done a lot of aluminum case repairs with helicoils, and have never had one fail. If installed properly, they are stronger than the original threads. It will cost you to get the kit, NAPA, Sears, and other auto suppliers should carry them. Just make sure you get the right size, and if the kit doesn't include it, get the correct size drill bit. I always make sure I have a good, sharp drill bit, so the hole is cut square. I don't recommend the epoxy method, because if you have to remove the bolt later, it might be a problem.

 

ah good what i wanted to hear..... i wasnt talkign about epoxying the bolt in there, i was thinking more of epoxying the hole shut and drilling and then taping it out after it dried... helacoils are a good thing though... i would probably just feel safer with those.....

i saw a thread restorer today while at kragens.. its permatex... the idea i guess it that you spread part 1 in the hole... then you put part 2 on the bolt and screw them together...... seems like epoxying the bolt in basically... dont see why it wouldnt work, jsut seems ghetto fabulous