I am in the process of replacing timing belt / water pump when I discover that I have two out of three bolts stripped on the drivers motor mount. I literally pulled them out with my fingers. Anyone have any suggestions for putting threads on these bolt holes ? There is so little space between the engine and the fender and I not am so confident in my helicoil abilities. I would also hate to drop an engine just to tap two holes. Thanks guys.
realy the proper way to do is to helicoil. sadly theres not realy a way to add matierial (threads) into the block. you could try and source a tap and couple of bolts that are a half size bigger with the same pitch. problem with that is now you have to remember those 2 blts will be a different size then that other one.
If you dont want to drop the motor. disconnect as much as you can and just jack the motor up using the trans mount as a pivit. im sure youll be able to get the motor high enough to get a drill bit strait in there. confidence comes with practice so maybe ist time to just hit up a junk yard or buy a scrap piece of aluminum and have at!!
I stripped out all my tranny mount bolts, ended up taking it to a shop and having them fill the holes by welding and re-tapped it.
But I would say the helicoiling is going to be your best option, maybe you can find somewhere that has a bit more experience and have them helicoil it?