yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars Posted December 12, 2008 hello, not so long ago i bought x2 torsion bars for my 309 beam from ebay, but the end that sits iht the arm with the washer and torx, the threads are damaged. how easy is it doing as i heard it couldnt be done by hand? sorry if there is already a topic on this, had a look but couldnt find anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fenton 1,541 Posted December 12, 2008 Try tapping it out, I had a go drilling one out to tap it M10 and struggled. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marksorrento205 80 Posted December 12, 2008 I drilled and tapped my chopped off gti6 arb. Like tom said they are hard but I started with a small drill and went up a mm at a time and it was ok. Dont see any reason why you could not helicoil it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars Posted December 12, 2008 I drilled and tapped my chopped off gti6 arb. Like tom said they are hard but I started with a small drill and went up a mm at a time and it was ok. Dont see any reason why you could not helicoil it. well there are some threads there, but they look abit iffey, so i will try and re tap it to 8mm, so maybe it will clean the threads up, see how it goes. any tips? the tap seems to go in at a angle using the old threads so maybe its slighty out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rom 0 Posted December 12, 2008 If its damaged, it can be hard to get the tap in perfectly straight, as it wants to follow the damage, rather than the original threads. Not sure what there made of exactly, but there hard, as said. If you cant repair it, cant see what harm a helicoil would do, providing you can drill it out enough. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johny105_y2k 1 Posted December 13, 2008 i'd try running the original size tap down 1stly if its only part damaged. you might get away with it if your lucky Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pug_ham 244 3 Cars Posted December 14, 2008 well there are some threads there, but they look abit iffey, so i will try and re tap it to 8mm, so maybe it will clean the threads up, see how it goes. any tips? the tap seems to go in at a angle using the old threads so maybe its slighty out. If the threads are damaged & stopping the tap starting straight then you need something to hold the bar & tap in perfect straight alignment so you don't cross the threads or snap the tap winding it in. Best is in a lathe so you can fit the torsion bar in the chuck & the tap in a drill attachment on the lathe bed & wind the tap in gentley by hand or if thats impossible a pillar drill & vice with the bar held solidly perfectly vertical & the tap in the drill chuck. Either method isn't going to be easy though. Graham. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars Posted December 14, 2008 i'd try running the original size tap down 1stly if its only part damaged. you might get away with it if your lucky well i tapped it to 8mm 1.25 pitch and it did it ok. it is slightly at a angle but i cant see that this will matter, also the screw is a tad wobberly in the thread, but tighens up ok thou, well it does me holding the bar and tightening so fingers crossed, when in the splines of arm it will tighten. does the torx stud need to be very tight with the off centre washer? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pug_ham 244 3 Cars Posted December 16, 2008 does the torx stud need to be very tight with the off centre washer? No, whatever you feel safe with. I tighten mine with a Torx allen key so I've only got about 4" of leverage to tighten them with but they've never worked loose at that. Just don't get it as tight as you can, it doesn't take long for the Torx bolts to fill up with road crud so if you want it to come apart again just set it nice & tight but not FT. Graham. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marksorrento205 80 Posted December 16, 2008 As graham said they soon get full of crap. I put mine in with a large helping of nickle neverseize and nip them up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars Posted December 16, 2008 good lads thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rom 0 Posted December 16, 2008 I never do mine up overly tight. The ones that cause me the most trouble though is those bolts, with a fixed washer in the centre, flat in one end, and a 13mm nut that goes on. The flats always brake off for me Even 6 months after rebuilding my beam i broke one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
welshpug 1,657 Posted December 16, 2008 I would be tempted to replace the bolt with a longer one if possible Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pug_ham 244 3 Cars Posted December 19, 2008 I would be tempted to replace the bolt with a longer one if possible Why? Its not the length of the bolt that causes the problem with getting them undone again if needed & TBH I used some normal M8 allen headed bolts on my 309 beam when I rebuilt it but swapped back to the torx headed ones when I swapped to ZX trailing arms because they were worse for rounding off than a Torx one. Graham. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
welshpug 1,657 Posted December 19, 2008 because of the damaged threads not the type of head. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pug_ham 244 3 Cars Posted December 20, 2008 because of the damaged threads not the type of head. OK, fair enough. TBH the thread doesn't sound that damaged & the torx bolt is threaded as fully into the torsion bar as it can go except for the width between the end of the coutersink in the washer & the bar end so I don't think its really needed. To replace it though would more than likely mean using a different type of bolt head anyway though. Graham. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
