Hi all,
so I made a stupid mistake rushing to get a job done. I didn't have the aluminum flange pressed all the way into the head when I started to thread the bolts in. I chewed up the first few threads before I knew something wasn't right.
I didn't go all the way in, so only the first 3 or so turns are chewed up.
How can I salvage this? I know helicoil is a viable solution, but I really don't want to drill the holes bigger, and what if I get the angle wrong?
Since it is only the first 3 or 4 turns that are chewed up, can I drill those out and hope that the bolt will grab the rest of the way? The bolt is M6x23.
Left hole is worse than right...went a little deeper. Right one is probably only 2 or 3 turns.
EDIT: Problem solved. Thread chasers worked well to clean up the bad threads. See post #3 and #15.
