Im going to start this off by saying I dont know the most about cars but I am learning. I also use the help of my brother a lot because he actually knows what he is doing when it comes to cars. So when I first got my brat we were replacing the water pump and a bolt broke off. We drilled the bolt out and got it out but it fucked up the threads on the hole. We tried to use a tap set to make new threads but none of the taps worked because the block was too strong. All of the taps would just round out. We drilled the hole out some more and tried to jb weld a stud into the hole and use a nut to tighten it but the jb weld didnt hold. Im pretty sure the water pump wont seal properly with only 4 bolts tightened. I was thinking of jbwelding some sort of anchor in the hole and then tightening a bolt onto that im not sure if itd work though. Need some help. Thanks a bunch!

Heli coil new threads into it. If you cant get a helicoil then try a different set of taps. The head is just aluminum and should re thread no problem. When my thermostat housing bolts stripped the threads, I just used a tap set and made new ones and it was no problem for me...

Edited July 11, 20169 yr by Sapper 157

Heli coil new threads into it. If you cant get a helicoil then try a different set of taps. The head is just aluminum and should re thread no problem. When my thermostat housing bolts stripped the threads, I just used a tap set and made new ones and it was no problem for me...

 

^ Agreed. A tap should've worked perfectly fine, it's aluminum, not steel. But if a tap seriously isn't working. Heli-coil it. Love heli-coils

My guess is you just got a low quality set of taps... Also, did you lubricate the hole with WD-40 as you were tapping it? Thats what I do and it seems to help. 

That's crappy set of taps if they strip in aluminum. If you didn't drill it out to far you could drill it out and tap it to a bigger size bolt or put in a helicoil. I had a ea81 someone f'd up the hole completely by drilling it out in 3 spots to get the bolt end out. It ended up making a hole about the size as a dime. I ended up cleaning the hole out really good and using alumiweld rod with a oxy propane setup to fill it in then used a die grinder to make the surface flat.

something wasn't done right - a tap not cutting aluminum - that's like scissors that can't cut cheap wrapping paper.

post a picture of the tap and then mail me the tap and i'll video tape it and pay postage.

were you using an M6 x 1.00 tap?

 

1. tap the hole (which is now probably to big to accept the original size bolt due to drilling it out) for a larger size bolt. original size is M6, maybe go with M7 or M8 or a standard size.

this is only possible if the water pump hole can accept it or be drilled out larger, and there's room for a larger head on the bolt.

use a high grade bolt like the OEM bolt or it'll rust/corrode.

 

or

 

2. helicoil it and use the same original bolt size - then you don't have to worry about it fitting through the water pump flange.

i would just helicoil it - the hard part is always getting the old bolt out, which you've done - helicoil or timesert repair is easy after that.

 

i've seen plenty of other gaskets seal and hold with one bolt missing - never done a water pump but i wouldn't be surprised if it held...or didn't hold!

Edited July 12, 20169 yr by grossgary

Did not lubricate the tap. Doing something wrong is definitely a possibility. The hole is pretty fucked now so we are going to try helicoils. Thanks all for the help. Ill update when finished. 

Use Precaution - Do not drill out the hole too deep... or you will really be screwed.

It shouldn't be drilled any deeper than it is originally.