Chemical Metal

apollo

apollo

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Hi

The little dome on the top of my fuel lift pump is held on by a bolt which has stripped the thread in the hole.

I was contemplating trying to fill the hole with Loctite Chemical Metal and tapping a new thread. Anyone tried this with chemical metal?

Is it strong enough to tap a thread in?

Thanks in advance

Mike
 
I am a fan(?) of JB weld, don't know how similar it is, but can be drilled and tapped.
Whenever I am in the UK, I do a Halfords visit to get more.
 
if there is any way you can i would try and go up a size in tap then use a larger diameter bolt.
I have found that the chemical metals dont like vibration and sooner or later it fails.
 
I tried the Loctite stuff (ex B&Q) earlier in the year and ended up dumping the pack. The stuff cured far too quickly and was more like a grey plastic than metal: it simply peeled away despite meticulous preparation in keying and de-greasing. In contrast JB-Weld is excellent gear.

If there's enough metal left, I'd try tapping the next size up. If not, try JB-Weld or an insert. If you MUST try the Loctite stuff, suggest you experiment on a test piece first.
 
If you can get a small enough Helicoil that is one way to go but you need enough metal to fit the Helicoil.

Just drilling and tapping out to the next screw size may be a better alternative.

When it happened to me on an old car I found a longer screw picked up the thread deeper in the hole and solved the problem. Was for ever after very careful not to strip the remainer of the thread though.
 
I've done the same as Vic's last paragraph. It's the easiest by far even though there was little visible thread when looking down into the bolt hole. Perhaps using a little chemical metal to strengthen it (but remembring to spray the bolt with wd40 first to facilitate release?)
 
Tried chemical metal as a thread repair, it doesnt work. As others on this thread have found, it doesnt like vibration and fails pretty quickly. JB Weld is a better option for a temporary repair, but in my experience is still not be relied on.

If its a Volvo, then helicoiling or drilling and tapping for the next bolt size might be the economic way forward, but otherwise a new pump is surely the best bet?
 
like all the other replies against plastic metal, we used to use plastic bronze and plastic steel on the containerships I sailed on, and it was only of use to fill in corrosion indentations (on flanges etc.) but not to re-tap holes.....and this was better stuff than can normally be obtained.

As already advised, for stripped holes, we also used Helicoil inserts or oversized the bolt thread. But then again, there was a lot more meat around the hole to do this on what was fitted.
 
I think the whole 'chemical metal' nomenclature is flawed as its only a polyester resin concoction with additives to make it look like metal, and which has little or no structural strength. Essentially its a non structural filler, and should be labelled as such.

Too many people are led to believe it will do a lot more structurally than it is capable of.

I speak as one who, as a teenager, rebuilt a substantial portion of a Ford Anglia from similar stuff, and was very patiently taken aside by the MOT inspector who explained its lack of structural integrity for MOT purposes..... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Tim
 
Hi

Thanks for all replies, have ordered a helicoil kit, its a M6 size bolt. There is enough meat to drill out to a Helicoil, so lets see how it goes...

Cheers

Mike
 
I have a Ford Galaxy that popped out a spark plug along with all the threads from the aluminium head about 5000 miles ago. Local Ford garage fixed it with a helicoil in a morning. The car has just been to Greece and back without a hitch.
 
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