Great repair Adam. I worked 35 years as a tool and die maker building aluminum welding fixtures, every threaded hole was called out from engineering to have a stainless Heli-Coil® insert. Holding strength is quite a bit stronger than just aluminum. The insert tool actually shrinks the insert a bit while threading it in, as long as the top and bottom of the insert is engaged in the aluminum they will not move. The ends of the coil will actually bit into the aluminum. Thread locker was not recommended.
How can you get the ends of the coil to bite, especially the top. I understand the pressure from the bolt being tightened would do this to some extent but wouldn't it help a lot to peen the aluminum at the ends of the coil?
@@KJ6EAD when you break off the tab at the bottom it’s designed to have a small burr pointed out into the aluminum and at the top it’s sprung out just a bit to not allow it to back out. At least that’s how they were designed when I was using them. I’ve been retired a couple of years so not sure if they changed anything.
I’m a Subaru Tech of 20 years. This is a spot on repair. Fairly common problem and helicoil is more than sufficient. I’ve never had a helicoil brembo fail. No need to split calipers. That just damages the paint around the bolts. The owner can clean where necessary. 100% great repair exactly how we would do it.
Did you need a $7000 vise to place a heli-coil? Thread repair is one of those DIY father shows son kind of repairs. Just buy the kit and follow the directions. If you're lucky the drill bit doesn't break, but always a learning experience for everyone involved.
I have read a lot of comments on what to do. Have any of these people read the instructions from the helicoil manufacturers? What would they know? If you compare what Adam has done to their directions you will find nothing inconsistent. All I know is that Adam and other TH-cam creators have to have thick skin. I couldn't put up with it. Retired mechanic/machinist in Land Down Under who teaches lots of people how to do these and many other things.
I saw Hand Tool Rescue restore a vice like this, and it was really cool. Your vice takes it to a whole new level. That is so slick how you can take a weird shape and true it up for machining. Great job, and a really great video. Thanks for sharing, Adam.
Great job one thing I would have added was a plug in the banjo bolt hole to be sure no foreign objects such as chips would end up in the brake fluid port
It's really cool to see @abom79 learning new tools and processes. Adam, you're obviously super dialed and can more than get by in a shop, but it's great that you're still learning new stuff. To be clear, I'm not saying this from a place of superiority, I'm a firefighter. All I know about machining is what I've learned from your videos, I've never run a lathe or mill. You just have interesting content and I watch most of your videos.
Thanks for showing the vise jaws in action. I have installed many helicoils in many different metals and usually if it's in aluminum I'll use locktite to help hold the insert in place but on brake calipers it probably won't help, they get to hot.
With these Brembo calipers on the rear of a Subaru. This is a common issue. But to save time. You can unbolt the calipers and they will halve. Then you will have a machined surface to work off of. The rebuild kits for these are about $30.00 so you might as well do that while you are at it. I just would not use the lube to put the coils in. They might back out with the bolt on the next service. I use blue lock tight on the inserts. I have done a few pairs of these in my 32 years as a mechanic.
This is a brilliant save Adam, saving a nice original piece. One thing for future, plug the hydraulic line hole mate, swarf inside could cause trouble in the future but still a top save / repair.
The old expression, "When you have a Hammer; the world looks like a Nail." and when you have a shiny new Adaptix Vice, every job looks like it should be done in an Adaptix vice... LOL. I appreciate what a few of the others are saying that it would have been better to split the caliper (allowing inspection the pistons and bores), but the video is primarily an Adaptix first use, rather than a Brembo repair, and without the novel workholding could be one of several in the Abom backcatalog. Thanks for an interesting alternative.
I like the vice. very nice indeed. Are you sure you should be lubing the helicoil? The last thing you want is an insert coming out. We always used loctite. It sort of lubes it on the way in and locks it in place ready for the bolt.
I don't use helicoils on brake calipers, Wurth Timeserts are a much better option for something like these, there's no skimping when it comes to brakes. A much easier way to hold the caliper is to split it, and bolt the mounting half to a steel plate using the four bolts that hold the two halves together, then mount the plate into the vise. If the caliper is a monobloc type then use a small mastercylinder connected to the banjo bolt, to pump the pistons out and clamp a steel plate using a couple of shims to save damaging the pistons, and lock off the lever of the mastercylinder, and then mount into a vise clamping on the plate. Both methods work cleanly and effectively.
In actual tests Helicoils outperformed all other thread inserts, including Timeserts. The tests were on maximum torque application and direct pull out. Essentially, a Timesert is a tube that is both threaded internally and externally although it does nave a tapered section at the base to expand out to supposed lock into the threaded hole in the parent metal. The Timesert can only have full contact at the base of the insert, where it is tapered all the rest of the threads relying on a loose fit. The Helicoil is a tight spring with sharp coil sections that form the thread. When a bolt is tightened in, the ramping action of the bolt threads against the coils of the insert pushes them out into the parent metal giving full depth pressure to the sides of the hole and digging the spring section in. The Helicoil material is high strength alloy steel so that the parent material will always be the one to fail, when it eventually does. Given the relative price of Timeserts against Helicoils, using Helicoils is a no brainer when they outperform them all Timeserts have their place. In a VW air-cooled crankcase the cylinder holding down bolts are close to the holes for the cylinder barrels and the bolts have a bad reputation for stripping the crankcase thread especially in high performance application. The use of Timeserts is normally prescribed and I would recommend them over Helicoils because there will be radial pressure that could break the bolts and helicoils into the cylinder barrel holes. Using a Timesert reduces this radial pressure and distributes what there is around the outside of the timesert and into the body of the crankcase. As I said previously, Porsche use Helicoils to mount the brake calipers to the alloy swing arm. Porsche are renowned for placing engineering above all else in their cars so would have deliberately selected Helicoils over all other options
@@clivewilliams3661 I've seen more failed Helicoils over the years, including some that I have installed, I have yet to have a failed Timesert, although I have experienced the material around the Timesert failing, on a Yamaha XJR1300 1500cc bigbore, cylinder studs, so I made my own larger inserts and all was well. As for a caliper mounting bolt which is likely to be on and off as the pads are changed in use, I find Timersert better for these applications, and less likely to wind out on the bolt in time.
@@mickymondo7463 What type of failures have you seen with Helicoils, the actual Helicoil or the failure of the surrounding metal? I suppose that with a Timesert you can loctite it in, that is not advised with a Helicoil. Really, the only time you would need to remove the caliper on a car is when changing the disc or the bearings that could be less frequent than changing pads, which can be done with the caliper in situ. I must admit that most times i change both the caliper and disc at the same time as with the non-asbestos pads they have to use a softer disc material that typically wears at the same rate as the pad. However, on our family car I only had to dismantle the front brakes once at 130,000mls to replace the pads and discs although even then they weren't at the wear limit. My performance/competition cars generally require pad/disc replacement at about 50,000mls so even then its pretty infrequent. I've never changed the pads or rotors on my Aprilia RST although that only does around 3,000-4,000mls/ year
@@clivewilliams3661 I've seen Helicoils wind out on the bolt after repeated loosening like a caliper gets whe pads are changed, I've seen them pull out on torquing the fastener to spec and with the side loading that caliper mounting bolts get they don't seem to remain as secure as Timeserts.
You explained the Helicoils perfectly ! I'd never seen one done so easily before. Tha Adaptix vice really worked well ! Great Instructional video,. Thanks Adam ! Stay safe ! Stu xx
It’s good to see the Abom79 we know and love getting back to doing some work. Keep bringing these little projects to the new shop, but we must return to the old SNS format. I miss that old content. Stay safe, and we’ll see you on the next episode, Adam.
Nice video Adam. Well explained and completed. You never rush thru or take short cuts, it's done right! I would have put a piece of tape over the fluid inlet to avoid any chips possibly getting in, just an observation for future jobs. Thanks for sharing.
35 years mechanic/ shop owner saw many bolts and holes like this, made some holes offcenter myself. Fixing any was a victory. It's nice watching how it's done. Your videos are awesome, thanks for making them.
Man, i just want to thank you sincerely for making these videos for us to watch and learn from. My father is a race car engine mechanic working on bridgeports and lathes for years has taught me everything I know and his father was a mechanixc before him and taught hom everything, so I identify with alot of what you talk about. I am a blademsith, blacksmith so we have a machine/blacksmith shop and we absolutely love watching your videos together and I just cant tell you how much its done for us
Yesterday, it so happened my shop had a job, also as featured an aluminum brake caliper. From the casting as surface towards wheel rim, the slight variant exposure saw interference at wheel install. The customer as changing from a larger, aluminum rim with larger tire size to a summer tread. The repair was simply very careful, dimensional grinding to allow free travel. And where, the cast region was very rough, with large variant rear surface as caliper. As left to right, both featured a very similar dimension as material removal. The job completion saw high temp paint to protect surfaces. For the tech at install, inspection of the piston as face and where rubberized boot, is a key feature to delivery as long life. The install of the hili-coil was a great lesson. Several of the tips I had not found but clearly are useful to gain the strength and centering to repair. Thank you, for having me along. M.
Kurtis at Cutting Edge Engineering has posted part 2 of his tool post creation video. 35k views in 3 hours. He is a master craftsman. He's just winging it as he finishes up the tool post, no plans, he knows exactly what he wants and his hands produce it. A real joy to watch. All this work because the tool post pissed him off and he knows he can make a better one.
CEE is my favorite channel. Complete no bs get it done guy in short supply in this world. Everything he does has a purpose to make his business better. But he’s new to TH-cam compared to Abom. Nothing wrong with Abom. I think he’s geared toward content creation - and I would think he derives some benefit for all these products he is advertising
Once I heard a serious race car builder told they use helicoil in every single aluminium threaded hole. The last thing you want to deal with is a pulled thread during a race repair and these inserts prevent just that.
Forget the naysayers Adam! Having watched since you started practically, I used Helicoils on the end of my crankshaft on a small block Chevy 350 small block. I had to drill the broken bolt out and mucked up the threads. I was able to torque the harmonic balancer to specs (I was worried) and it didn't budge. I'm still running the engine in my old truck. Yeah, didn't have a mill but used measures to get the straightest hole, nice sharp cobalt drill bit and patience. Great video! I trust those Helicoils will last a long time.
I don't know my way around as well as you, hence my question: Why didn't you separate the two halves and screw the part with the broken threads onto a metal plate? Anyway, it's always a pleasure to watch you fix things like this
Hi Adam I realise the calipers belong to someone else, but if they were mine I would have removed the cap screws to give a flat machined face. It also would give the opportunity to fit new 'O' rings in the split joint. Cheers
G'day Adam. The new jaw setup is a good time saver, which look Very Professional. The repair went very smoothly. Well done, waiting to see your next project.
I am not a Helicoil expert but used them myself on a fixture plate back in the day and I do not fault Adam for using a little lube on them. They are already a TIGHT fit in those holes and any extra bit of friction is chancing the tang bending/breaking. If that happens it is not fun time removing it and trying again. But alas, to each their own in the comments section.
Looking on Heli-Coil's site I don't see anything mentioning using loctite or other threat lockers on the Tanged Screw Thread Inserts. Project Farm has a video testing various inserts and the Heli-Coil instructions don't mention it either. Just install the thread insert dry. The bolts look like they have a little wiggle room in this repair. I doubt the insert will come loose when removing the bolt.
Adam. You need to leave the leave clamp bolts loose until your fixed jaws just about make contact. Then snug them up and clamp down. Most of your clamping force comes from the fixed jaws..
I always used my air drill and trusted it to follow the original bore. Same with the tap, also thread locker on the insert with anti-sieze on bolt threads. 70 years old so I've done this more times than you would believe. Time is Money 💵. I am in no way knocking Adam's work. Top notch.
I remember using Anchorlube (not 100% sure it was the same trade name back then, but absolutely the same pale lime green stuff!) in a squeeze bottle in 1978. I was 16 and working on a mechanical assembly line at Rockwell-Collins in Florida building avionics chassis. We used it for any and every tapping operation :) I know many of those radios and navigational instruments we built there are still in service today keeping pilots safe in the air and getting them home.
So many concerned about helicoils, while I'm bothered by the oem thinking this was an acceptable design threading directly into the aluminium for that bolt. Although on some cars, pads last a very very long time compared to the old days.
Things have changed. We have become spoiled by Adam & his SNS where we learned so much but for the most part he was working for Motion and his teachings were mainly after his workin hours. Now Adam is venturing into a business of his own which takes much more of his time. When you are self employed it is different when you are the boss & the only employee. He tries hard to include us in his ventures but it is different. Now that Adam is slowly moving into the CNC field and although he has a lot of support the expense is difficult to understand for us/me to understand.
Those vise are freaking 8k. I bet with fliming this took all day. But thank you for making it I really injoy watching you work because you are never in a rush.
@@silasmarner7586 Sure, the part is, and that's completely not my point at all. However, In order for the part to lift, those fancy overpriced $7000 vise jaws must have not had the best grip on the part.
Thanks for the vid, Adam. I always learn something watching you. How did you line up that last hole? Because a partial bolt was in there, you couldn't do the drill bit trick you did on the others. Just eyeball it?
Excellent demonstration of the usefulness of the Adativ Vise...As an extra precaution, a piece of painter's tape over the brake banjo bolt hole would eliminate the slight possibility of tiny chips from entering the fluid cavity ... (a clean up after machining might not remove some stubborn sharp edged swarf that may have gotten into the cavity which could eventually damage the piston seals)
Use loctite on those helicoils so they don’t back out with the bolt Those bolts require loctite when installed so it’ll stick to the thread repaired and sometimes pull them out when unscrewed I usually put some on the helicoil and also pin both sides of the thread when installed so it mechanically lock it in place
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. One tight thread and those helicoils are backing out of the caliper. Vibration and thermal expansion are probably gonna see those calipers loosen. Even my cheapie helicoils knock-offs have a mechanical locking mechanism to prevent them backing out. Glad I didn't buy helicoils are seeing them used.
Brilliant Great to see a good engineer at work I did this sort of stuff for 42 years in a Toolroom then in the maintenance dept We made our own vice With Allen cap screws in an old vice Then clamped on the heads It worked but not as efficient as the dedicated vice you have As an apprentice I worked on “The Bridgeport Conneticate” I tried to get my boss to buy one all my working life Had to manage on various Cincinnati machines I enjoy watching you do similar “jobs” that I did throughout my working life I’m 70 now btw 👍👍👍👍
I've installed many of these in aluminum parts. Possibly the worst are VW engine mounts which use torque to yield bolts into aluminum. This causes shear in the threads of an Al casting, failing with new bolts. This drops the engine as the threads pull out.
Normally helicoils shouldn't have loctite on the threads because the way they work is that as the bolt is torqued the ramping action of the bolt threads on the helicoil threads causes them to expand out into the parent metal. if you use loctite you risk breaking the loctite seal when the bolt is torqued up and the loctite can squeeze out to contaminate the bolt threads, causing the bolt to be thread locked to the helicoil and the helicoil not being fixed to the parent metal - remember the helicoil is effectively a spring. However, having had the situation where after a time the bolt corrodes to the helicoil and the helicoil begins to wind out when the bolt is undone. This causes a problem because the helicoil generally can't wind back through the caliper mounting hole and the helicoil gouges the mounting face. This happened to me with a Brembo caliper and Porsche swing arm. I didn't follow conventional wisdom and peened over the aluminium to stop the thread winding out again and made sure that the bolt threads had anti-seize lubricant on.
18:50 ? I would have thought a HeliCoil would go in with LockTite and not a lubricant? The 'internet' says its up to you, but don't get it on the inside of the coil. Great use of the new jaw!
Part of that is because when installing it you're twisting it in from the bottom tang which causes it to narrow down and twist tighter together when there's more drag on the top threads. Once that tang is gone the insert is going to be working like a spring slightly pressing into the outer threads and when there's a bolt or something being tightened into it any friction is now going to be at the top instead of the bottom so it'll work to unwind that spring and force it into the outer threads even more. Personally I still use loctite but the helicoil probably isn't going to move after installation without it.
Japanese Sumitomo calipers like on the 300zx and 3000gt have a very nice steel insert from factory. I've never seen threads fail on any. Strange how Brembo doesnt have something similar by now ..
ok, so this is how intently I was following Adam’s video: I caught myself blowing on my phone screen trying to blow off the chips from the first hole he drilled. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The coil is more of a interference fit then the bolt for one and the clamping force when tightened the bolt also holds the coil to the new threads, these may look janky but have been proven for years, very good fix solution in many cases
@@skippybuilt I watched the video a few more times after I commented - yeah, you can see the coil is reasonably tight against the thread, and when the bolt goes in it seems to go in freely, almost a little loose. So I guess when it’s being tightened down, it doesn’t exert any force on the coil until right at the very end. Good explanation though, thanks 🙏
That is why you need the insert tool to put the coil in, it tightens the spring so it will screw in, then when the tool is withdrawn the insert expands against the thread locking it in the bore.
@@ZylonFPV This is the case with a plain threaded bolt, too. There is no clamping force on the threads until the end of the cap hits the surface of the mating material. This is why torque processes in manufacturing can sometimes require quite a bit of study to get just right.
WITH 1 exception. NEVER countersink a brake caliper. They are machined flat from the factory for a reason. Any movement of the new bolt will put torque on the helicoil and give movement to it when torque is applied to the bolt. It will deform the helicoil. I KNOW for a fact it loosens up the helicoil and you never want the bolt to stress the caliper. Been working on cars my entire life. Never countersink a brake part. It is meant to hold in place with two flat surfaces.
The ‘spring‘ of the wire thread insert provides grip. Once the bolt is installed and fully torqued up the insert is secure. If I remember well dry installation is the default.
Why did you not go with Timeserts? Heli coils work, but it would seem like a better choice for something that is going to be exposed to heat expansion.
The threads on these calipers gets galvanic corroded to the mild steel bolt that holds them on so thats why they either strip out or snap off... They go on the WRX STI by the way
You can unbolt those calipers they are 2 half’s. The flats have bolt holes are true surface. I’ve fixed a few. Super cool to see how you did it with that clamp system. You would think people would be careful with such high end brakes lol.
From the Heli-Coil website: the “Screw-Locking” tanged insert provides self-locking torque on the male member by a series of “chords” on one or more of the insert coils. Require no staking, locking, swaging, keying, or interference fit (Free-Running). Positive self-locking torque, complying with MIL-I-8846 and MIL-N-25027.
*If they are properly installed* , there is always more grip on the exterior diameter of the coil than the interior diameter and they will never wind out with the bolt. No thread lock is required.
Why lube the Helicoils? I was expecting application of Loctite 2620 or similar to secure it in there? I work in IT, so I'm not trying to tell anyone how to do their work in another field, but I wondered how those coils are going to stay in place.
Having installed hundreds of helicoils I can say that there's no need to worry. Those suckers aren't going to move. They're designed to fit right and can only be screwed in with the insertion tool/ tang that slightly reduces the OD of the spiral insert. Break off the tang and they are virtually impossible to get out, even if you want to. Don't ask me how I know this LOL
Super video, I like the tools that are new and cutting edge. Don’t get me wrong I have done some sketchy setups and paid the price for it but now I know there is a better way. Thanks for sharing.
Great repair Adam. I worked 35 years as a tool and die maker building aluminum welding fixtures, every threaded hole was called out from engineering to have a stainless Heli-Coil® insert. Holding strength is quite a bit stronger than just aluminum. The insert tool actually shrinks the insert a bit while threading it in, as long as the top and bottom of the insert is engaged in the aluminum they will not move. The ends of the coil will actually bit into the aluminum. Thread locker was not recommended.
How can you get the ends of the coil to bite, especially the top. I understand the pressure from the bolt being tightened would do this to some extent but wouldn't it help a lot to peen the aluminum at the ends of the coil?
@@KJ6EAD when you break off the tab at the bottom it’s designed to have a small burr pointed out into the aluminum and at the top it’s sprung out just a bit to not allow it to back out. At least that’s how they were designed when I was using them. I’ve been retired a couple of years so not sure if they changed anything.
@@tool2man Thanks. Maybe what I've seen have been installed wrong. It wouldn't surprise me considering some of the people I've worked with.
...YOU SUMMED IT UP PRETTY WELL-!!!
I’m a Subaru Tech of 20 years. This is a spot on repair. Fairly common problem and helicoil is more than sufficient. I’ve never had a helicoil brembo fail. No need to split calipers. That just damages the paint around the bolts. The owner can clean where necessary. 100% great repair exactly how we would do it.
What do you know, you are just an actual expert. All the armchair mechanics and materials engineers in the comments know better.
@@boothbytcd6011 "experts say"
Exactly why i repair my own stuff...you worried about the paint? yet nothing about open brake fluid hole?? i worked in shops too....lol
Why everyone in this section hating on the Subaru tech guy person thing
Did you need a $7000 vise to place a heli-coil? Thread repair is one of those DIY father shows son kind of repairs. Just buy the kit and follow the directions. If you're lucky the drill bit doesn't break, but always a learning experience for everyone involved.
I have read a lot of comments on what to do. Have any of these people read the instructions from the helicoil manufacturers? What would they know? If you compare what Adam has done to their directions you will find nothing inconsistent. All I know is that Adam and other TH-cam creators have to have thick skin. I couldn't put up with it. Retired mechanic/machinist in Land Down Under who teaches lots of people how to do these and many other things.
Just split caliper in half. Made this a few times, always worked great.
Exactly what I was thinking. The caliper breaks down for rebuilding. Taking it further apart would have made for a more stable setup.
I saw Hand Tool Rescue restore a vice like this, and it was really cool. Your vice takes it to a whole new level. That is so slick how you can take a weird shape and true it up for machining. Great job, and a really great video. Thanks for sharing, Adam.
Cutting out that broken bolt while leaving the caliper’s treads in there, was awesome. The right tools in the right hands. Great job.
Great job one thing I would have added was a plug in the banjo bolt hole to be sure no foreign objects such as chips would end up in the brake fluid port
It's really cool to see @abom79 learning new tools and processes. Adam, you're obviously super dialed and can more than get by in a shop, but it's great that you're still learning new stuff. To be clear, I'm not saying this from a place of superiority, I'm a firefighter. All I know about machining is what I've learned from your videos, I've never run a lathe or mill. You just have interesting content and I watch most of your videos.
The precision in your work is most satisfying to watch. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with these videos.
for what brimbos cost they should have helicoil inserts when new !
Thanks for showing the vise jaws in action. I have installed many helicoils in many different metals and usually if it's in aluminum I'll use locktite to help hold the insert in place but on brake calipers it probably won't help, they get to hot.
With these Brembo calipers on the rear of a Subaru. This is a common issue. But to save time. You can unbolt the calipers and they will halve. Then you will have a machined surface to work off of. The rebuild kits for these are about $30.00 so you might as well do that while you are at it. I just would not use the lube to put the coils in. They might back out with the bolt on the next service. I use blue lock tight on the inserts. I have done a few pairs of these in my 32 years as a mechanic.
This is a brilliant save Adam, saving a nice original piece. One thing for future, plug the hydraulic line hole mate, swarf inside could cause trouble in the future but still a top save / repair.
The old expression, "When you have a Hammer; the world looks like a Nail." and when you have a shiny new Adaptix Vice, every job looks like it should be done in an Adaptix vice... LOL.
I appreciate what a few of the others are saying that it would have been better to split the caliper (allowing inspection the pistons and bores), but the video is primarily an Adaptix first use, rather than a Brembo repair, and without the novel workholding could be one of several in the Abom backcatalog.
Thanks for an interesting alternative.
Great to see the Anchor lube works with both imperial and metric.
For anybody who is sceptical about this repair, it's probably better located and stronger than the original.
I was just curious , I was accustomed to Proto Slimcerts , don't think they even made now
Helicoil should feature this video on their website.
I like the vice. very nice indeed. Are you sure you should be lubing the helicoil? The last thing you want is an insert coming out. We always used loctite. It sort of lubes it on the way in and locks it in place ready for the bolt.
Classic Abom sirens for a classic Abom helicoil job
Fixed many Brembo aluminum calipers before. I stripped them down void of rubber, and tig welded the hole closed, and then tapped new threads.
how do you locate the hole position once that's done?
@@makepartsUSA put em in a fixture before welding, no?
Perfect use of the new jaws and thanks for the helicoil tutorial. Really well done, as usual.
I don't use helicoils on brake calipers, Wurth Timeserts are a much better option for something like these, there's no skimping when it comes to brakes. A much easier way to hold the caliper is to split it, and bolt the mounting half to a steel plate using the four bolts that hold the two halves together, then mount the plate into the vise.
If the caliper is a monobloc type then use a small mastercylinder connected to the banjo bolt, to pump the pistons out and clamp a steel plate using a couple of shims to save damaging the pistons, and lock off the lever of the mastercylinder, and then mount into a vise clamping on the plate.
Both methods work cleanly and effectively.
In actual tests Helicoils outperformed all other thread inserts, including Timeserts. The tests were on maximum torque application and direct pull out. Essentially, a Timesert is a tube that is both threaded internally and externally although it does nave a tapered section at the base to expand out to supposed lock into the threaded hole in the parent metal. The Timesert can only have full contact at the base of the insert, where it is tapered all the rest of the threads relying on a loose fit. The Helicoil is a tight spring with sharp coil sections that form the thread. When a bolt is tightened in, the ramping action of the bolt threads against the coils of the insert pushes them out into the parent metal giving full depth pressure to the sides of the hole and digging the spring section in. The Helicoil material is high strength alloy steel so that the parent material will always be the one to fail, when it eventually does. Given the relative price of Timeserts against Helicoils, using Helicoils is a no brainer when they outperform them all
Timeserts have their place. In a VW air-cooled crankcase the cylinder holding down bolts are close to the holes for the cylinder barrels and the bolts have a bad reputation for stripping the crankcase thread especially in high performance application. The use of Timeserts is normally prescribed and I would recommend them over Helicoils because there will be radial pressure that could break the bolts and helicoils into the cylinder barrel holes. Using a Timesert reduces this radial pressure and distributes what there is around the outside of the timesert and into the body of the crankcase.
As I said previously, Porsche use Helicoils to mount the brake calipers to the alloy swing arm. Porsche are renowned for placing engineering above all else in their cars so would have deliberately selected Helicoils over all other options
We used Wurth Timeserts in the Industrial environment and had excellent results. 🙂
@@clivewilliams3661 I've seen more failed Helicoils over the years, including some that I have installed, I have yet to have a failed Timesert, although I have experienced the material around the Timesert failing, on a Yamaha XJR1300 1500cc bigbore, cylinder studs, so I made my own larger inserts and all was well. As for a caliper mounting bolt which is likely to be on and off as the pads are changed in use, I find Timersert better for these applications, and less likely to wind out on the bolt in time.
@@mickymondo7463 What type of failures have you seen with Helicoils, the actual Helicoil or the failure of the surrounding metal? I suppose that with a Timesert you can loctite it in, that is not advised with a Helicoil. Really, the only time you would need to remove the caliper on a car is when changing the disc or the bearings that could be less frequent than changing pads, which can be done with the caliper in situ. I must admit that most times i change both the caliper and disc at the same time as with the non-asbestos pads they have to use a softer disc material that typically wears at the same rate as the pad. However, on our family car I only had to dismantle the front brakes once at 130,000mls to replace the pads and discs although even then they weren't at the wear limit. My performance/competition cars generally require pad/disc replacement at about 50,000mls so even then its pretty infrequent. I've never changed the pads or rotors on my Aprilia RST although that only does around 3,000-4,000mls/ year
@@clivewilliams3661 I've seen Helicoils wind out on the bolt after repeated loosening like a caliper gets whe pads are changed, I've seen them pull out on torquing the fastener to spec and with the side loading that caliper mounting bolts get they don't seem to remain as secure as Timeserts.
Nice job...your explanation of the process was great. The new finger jaws for the vice came in real handy. Best hellicoil job I ever saw!
Am I seeing things or did that tap lift the caliper up out of the vice a little at 27:36
It lifted a little right at the end. Probably because the sides of the caliper are not vertical but slanted. The caliper just wants to pop away.
But I think the result is still fine.
so I wans't the only one seeing things :)
Yes, not sure how that would effect repair ?
You explained the Helicoils perfectly !
I'd never seen one done so easily before.
Tha Adaptix vice really worked well !
Great Instructional video,.
Thanks Adam !
Stay safe !
Stu xx
It’s good to see the Abom79 we know and love getting back to doing some work. Keep bringing these little projects to the new shop, but we must return to the old SNS format. I miss that old content. Stay safe, and we’ll see you on the next episode, Adam.
Nice video Adam. Well explained and completed. You never rush thru or take short cuts, it's done right! I would have put a piece of tape over the fluid inlet to avoid any chips possibly getting in, just an observation for future jobs. Thanks for sharing.
Repair well done, that vice to hold off shapes is a God send, the part will be around a long time 👍, thanks Adam
35 years mechanic/ shop owner saw many bolts and holes like this, made some holes offcenter myself. Fixing any was a victory. It's nice watching how it's done. Your videos are awesome, thanks for making them.
Man, i just want to thank you sincerely for making these videos for us to watch and learn from. My father is a race car engine mechanic working on bridgeports and lathes for years has taught me everything I know and his father was a mechanixc before him and taught hom everything, so I identify with alot of what you talk about. I am a blademsith, blacksmith so we have a machine/blacksmith shop and we absolutely love watching your videos together and I just cant tell you how much its done for us
The entry point for hydraulic hose seems to have been left open. Getting chips in there would not be a good thing.
Yesterday, it so happened my shop had a job, also as featured an aluminum brake caliper. From the casting as surface towards wheel rim, the slight variant exposure saw interference at wheel install. The customer as changing from a larger, aluminum rim with larger tire size to a summer tread. The repair was simply very careful, dimensional grinding to allow free travel. And where, the cast region was very rough, with large variant rear surface as caliper. As left to right, both featured a very similar dimension as material removal. The job completion saw high temp paint to protect surfaces. For the tech at install, inspection of the piston as face and where rubberized boot, is a key feature to delivery as long life.
The install of the hili-coil was a great lesson. Several of the tips I had not found but clearly are useful to gain the strength and centering to repair. Thank you, for having me along. M.
Kurtis at Cutting Edge Engineering has posted part 2 of his tool post creation video. 35k views in 3 hours. He is a master craftsman. He's just winging it as he finishes up the tool post, no plans, he knows exactly what he wants and his hands produce it. A real joy to watch. All this work because the tool post pissed him off and he knows he can make a better one.
Haha, love the plug for CEE. A real machinist that does real work, not a psuedo machinist with a sugar momma with 2 shops and no real jobs.
CEE is my favorite channel. Complete no bs get it done guy in short supply in this world. Everything he does has a purpose to make his business better. But he’s new to TH-cam compared to Abom. Nothing wrong with Abom. I think he’s geared toward content creation - and I would think he derives some benefit for all these products he is advertising
@@Rubbernecker Adam has a sugar momma?
@@mindasb and does she have a sister???😂
Once I heard a serious race car builder told they use helicoil in every single aluminium threaded hole. The last thing you want to deal with is a pulled thread during a race repair and these inserts prevent just that.
It's common practice these days and has been for a while to put steel or titanium inserts in aluminum (and magnesium) parts to save the alloy.
Forget the naysayers Adam! Having watched since you started practically, I used Helicoils on the end of my crankshaft on a small block Chevy 350 small block. I had to drill the broken bolt out and mucked up the threads. I was able to torque the harmonic balancer to specs (I was worried) and it didn't budge. I'm still running the engine in my old truck. Yeah, didn't have a mill but used measures to get the straightest hole, nice sharp cobalt drill bit and patience. Great video! I trust those Helicoils will last a long time.
I don't know my way around as well as you, hence my question: Why didn't you separate the two halves and screw the part with the broken threads onto a metal plate?
Anyway, it's always a pleasure to watch you fix things like this
Hi Adam I realise the calipers belong to someone else, but if they were mine I would have removed the cap screws to give a flat machined face. It also would give the opportunity to fit new 'O' rings in the split joint. Cheers
G'day Adam. The new jaw setup is a good time saver, which look Very Professional. The repair went very smoothly. Well done, waiting to see your next project.
Thanks for showing the Heli Coil installation and explanation, you are a CLASS ACT BUDDY!!, Greetings from the Cayman Islands.
Great video. I really enjoy watching your talent. Thank you for spending the time to video and edit so beginner people see exactly how to do it.
I am not a Helicoil expert but used them myself on a fixture plate back in the day and I do not fault Adam for using a little lube on them. They are already a TIGHT fit in those holes and any extra bit of friction is chancing the tang bending/breaking. If that happens it is not fun time removing it and trying again. But alas, to each their own in the comments section.
im used to ppl using thread lock when installing helicoils and was kinda surprised by your approach so my question is which is best ? cheers
I was taught to use some Loctite when installing the Helicoil. Is that incorrect?
No - that is correct, you don't grease helicoils.
Looking on Heli-Coil's site I don't see anything mentioning using loctite or other threat lockers on the Tanged Screw Thread Inserts. Project Farm has a video testing various inserts and the Heli-Coil instructions don't mention it either. Just install the thread insert dry. The bolts look like they have a little wiggle room in this repair. I doubt the insert will come loose when removing the bolt.
@@willjohnsonjohnson Oh, I think I was told this on a 'belt and braces' basis.
thanks Adam, beautifully filmed
Adam. You need to leave the leave clamp bolts loose until your fixed jaws just about make contact. Then snug them up and clamp down. Most of your clamping force comes from the fixed jaws..
I always used my air drill and trusted it to follow the original bore. Same with the tap, also thread locker on the insert with anti-sieze on bolt threads. 70 years old so I've done this more times than you would believe. Time is Money 💵.
I am in no way knocking Adam's work. Top notch.
So just a couple of questions. Wouldn’t lock tite have been a good idea? And some anti seize on the bolt them self in the future?
My Saturday afternoon is complete, now. Another ABomb shop vid. Very satisfying! Love the “unboxings” too!
I remember using Anchorlube (not 100% sure it was the same trade name back then, but absolutely the same pale lime green stuff!) in a squeeze bottle in 1978. I was 16 and working on a mechanical assembly line at Rockwell-Collins in Florida building avionics chassis. We used it for any and every tapping operation :) I know many of those radios and navigational instruments we built there are still in service today keeping pilots safe in the air and getting them home.
Nicely done! Having the right tools can make a job like this a whole lot easier. Great guide for fixing these holes and installing helicoils.
This video was brought to you by Norgren, HeliCoil, Anchorlube, The Pensacola Fire Depatment and the torque setting 65f/lb 😅
To be honest, Adam needs to have the fire department / paramedics on sometime. They’ve been part of the channel from the beginning.
Its 72-degree winter weather in Southern California. My Saturday is better for watching your post! Thank you!
So many concerned about helicoils, while I'm bothered by the oem thinking this was an acceptable design threading directly into the aluminium for that bolt. Although on some cars, pads last a very very long time compared to the old days.
Things have changed. We have become spoiled by Adam & his SNS where we learned so much but for the most part he was working for Motion and his teachings were mainly after his workin hours. Now Adam is venturing into a business of his own which takes much more of his time. When you are self employed it is different when you are the boss & the only employee. He tries hard to include us in his ventures but it is different. Now that Adam is slowly moving into the CNC field and although he has a lot of support the expense is difficult to understand for us/me to understand.
Those vise are freaking 8k. I bet with fliming this took all day. But thank you for making it I really injoy watching you work because you are never in a rush.
Really nice job Adam. I always enjoy when you help out a viewer.
At 27:40 you can see the part get pulled up slightly by the tap.
Dude it's gonna be juuuuuuuuust fine.
@@silasmarner7586 Sure, the part is, and that's completely not my point at all. However, In order for the part to lift, those fancy overpriced $7000 vise jaws must have not had the best grip on the part.
Thanks for the vid, Adam. I always learn something watching you. How did you line up that last hole? Because a partial bolt was in there, you couldn't do the drill bit trick you did on the others. Just eyeball it?
I would have used locktite red to lubricate the coils. Don't need them backing out later
Nice work! I enjoy seeing the combination of new and old equipment on your channel. Keep it up and ignore the haters they are just jealous.
That precision level, just holding one end with your hand will throw it out. You got that as level as you could with that method.
Excellent demonstration of the usefulness of the Adativ Vise...As an extra precaution, a piece of painter's tape over the brake banjo bolt hole would eliminate the slight possibility of tiny chips from entering the fluid cavity ...
(a clean up after machining might not remove some stubborn sharp edged swarf that may have gotten into the cavity which could eventually damage the piston seals)
Use loctite on those helicoils so they don’t back out with the bolt
Those bolts require loctite when installed so it’ll stick to the thread repaired and sometimes pull them out when unscrewed
I usually put some on the helicoil and also pin both sides of the thread when installed so it mechanically lock it in place
Yeah; I would've gone with at least Threadlocker Blue on this. This is an unsprung suspension component, and it really takes a beating.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. One tight thread and those helicoils are backing out of the caliper. Vibration and thermal expansion are probably gonna see those calipers loosen.
Even my cheapie helicoils knock-offs have a mechanical locking mechanism to prevent them backing out. Glad I didn't buy helicoils are seeing them used.
Brilliant Great to see a good engineer at work
I did this sort of stuff for 42 years in a Toolroom then in the maintenance dept
We made our own vice With Allen cap screws in an old vice Then clamped on the heads It worked but not as efficient as the dedicated vice you have As an apprentice I worked on “The Bridgeport Conneticate” I tried to get my boss to buy one all my working life
Had to manage on various Cincinnati machines I enjoy watching you do similar “jobs” that I did throughout my working life I’m 70 now btw 👍👍👍👍
Should have covered the opening for the banjo bolt....
Should have used lock tight on the helicoil !
Yes definately not a lubricant
I've installed many of these in aluminum parts. Possibly the worst are VW engine mounts which use torque to yield bolts into aluminum. This causes shear in the threads of an Al casting, failing with new bolts. This drops the engine as the threads pull out.
why didn't you loctite the threads in position?
Normally helicoils shouldn't have loctite on the threads because the way they work is that as the bolt is torqued the ramping action of the bolt threads on the helicoil threads causes them to expand out into the parent metal. if you use loctite you risk breaking the loctite seal when the bolt is torqued up and the loctite can squeeze out to contaminate the bolt threads, causing the bolt to be thread locked to the helicoil and the helicoil not being fixed to the parent metal - remember the helicoil is effectively a spring. However, having had the situation where after a time the bolt corrodes to the helicoil and the helicoil begins to wind out when the bolt is undone. This causes a problem because the helicoil generally can't wind back through the caliper mounting hole and the helicoil gouges the mounting face. This happened to me with a Brembo caliper and Porsche swing arm. I didn't follow conventional wisdom and peened over the aluminium to stop the thread winding out again and made sure that the bolt threads had anti-seize lubricant on.
18:50 ? I would have thought a HeliCoil would go in with LockTite and not a lubricant? The 'internet' says its up to you, but don't get it on the inside of the coil. Great use of the new jaw!
I wondered about that too, but if this is aluminum it galls really easily.
Part of that is because when installing it you're twisting it in from the bottom tang which causes it to narrow down and twist tighter together when there's more drag on the top threads. Once that tang is gone the insert is going to be working like a spring slightly pressing into the outer threads and when there's a bolt or something being tightened into it any friction is now going to be at the top instead of the bottom so it'll work to unwind that spring and force it into the outer threads even more. Personally I still use loctite but the helicoil probably isn't going to move after installation without it.
Unusual for a WRX to have an issue that is not a blown head gasket…..:)
Bet yourself on the back you were a great machinist, that is a very innovative set of Chuck jars. Very nice!
I use them on calipers all day long with no issues!
Japanese Sumitomo calipers like on the 300zx and 3000gt have a very nice steel insert from factory. I've never seen threads fail on any. Strange how Brembo doesnt have something similar by now ..
ok, so this is how intently I was following Adam’s video:
I caught myself blowing on my phone screen trying to blow off the chips from the first hole he drilled. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
the new vice is awesome
What stops those coils from coming loose when you screw in the bolt, especially so since you put some lube between the coil and calliper?
The coil is more of a interference fit then the bolt for one and the clamping force when tightened the bolt also holds the coil to the new threads, these may look janky but have been proven for years, very good fix solution in many cases
I should’ve read the comments…I just asked the same question
@@skippybuilt I watched the video a few more times after I commented - yeah, you can see the coil is reasonably tight against the thread, and when the bolt goes in it seems to go in freely, almost a little loose. So I guess when it’s being tightened down, it doesn’t exert any force on the coil until right at the very end. Good explanation though, thanks 🙏
That is why you need the insert tool to put the coil in, it tightens the spring so it will screw in, then when the tool is withdrawn the insert expands against the thread locking it in the bore.
@@ZylonFPV This is the case with a plain threaded bolt, too. There is no clamping force on the threads until the end of the cap hits the surface of the mating material. This is why torque processes in manufacturing can sometimes require quite a bit of study to get just right.
Thanks for the video Adam nicely done 👍✅. Take care of yourself and Abby. I would've used an thread cert myself.
Milling machine sounds awesome, so quiet and smooth... 🙂
Great clamps. Love things that really work.
Cool vise and nice work. I would've taped those pistons up and red loctited those thread inserts though
I would have taped up the brake line. No need in my opinion to tape up what is exposed to the atmosphere in operation.
@@jemijona not too many aluminum chips in the atmosphere where I'm at lol
Great vise, should probably have covered the line ports to keep the chips out of the caliper.
Nice vice ,just wandering about metal shavings getting into the fingers and making them stop working and how hard it would be to clean
Adam: Good demonstration of how to work with Helicoil
WITH 1 exception. NEVER countersink a brake caliper. They are machined flat from the factory for a reason. Any movement of the new bolt will put torque on the helicoil and give movement to it when torque is applied to the bolt. It will deform the helicoil. I KNOW for a fact it loosens up the helicoil and you never want the bolt to stress the caliper. Been working on cars my entire life. Never countersink a brake part. It is meant to hold in place with two flat surfaces.
Why no thread locker?
I was wondering the same. I think I used it when I did one hole on my old Dakota caliper.
Yeah shoulda used threadlocker instead of grease.
The grease was probably worse than nothing lol.
The ‘spring‘ of the wire thread insert provides grip. Once the bolt is installed and fully torqued up the insert is secure. If I remember well dry installation is the default.
Haven't said this in a while...Man you make great videos!! Thanks for all your efforts! 🙂
Why did you not go with Timeserts? Heli coils work, but it would seem like a better choice for something that is going to be exposed to heat expansion.
Adam, I have to commend you or Abby on the video editing. Most excellent!
The threads on these calipers gets galvanic corroded to the mild steel bolt that holds them on so thats why they either strip out or snap off...
They go on the WRX STI by the way
This makes you understand why there was a setup on several machines in the old days before CNC.
Had to do it with my bembos on my subaru 2007gtb sti. Very common
I bet you did it with a hand drill and was done before this video.
@@albertpierce6263 No mate, I have a drill mill HM-46 and worked great.
27:32 the caliper lifted quite a bit from the tap
You can unbolt those calipers they are 2 half’s. The flats have bolt holes are true surface. I’ve fixed a few. Super cool to see how you did it with that clamp system. You would think people would be careful with such high end brakes lol.
I thought you needed to use some locktite on heli-coils
From the Heli-Coil website: the “Screw-Locking” tanged insert provides self-locking torque on the male member by a series of “chords” on one or more of the insert coils. Require no staking, locking, swaging, keying, or interference fit (Free-Running). Positive self-locking torque, complying with MIL-I-8846 and MIL-N-25027.
*If they are properly installed* , there is always more grip on the exterior diameter of the coil than the interior diameter and they will never wind out with the bolt.
No thread lock is required.
Great job,
Good job for your new vise.
Thank you
Why lube the Helicoils? I was expecting application of Loctite 2620 or similar to secure it in there?
I work in IT, so I'm not trying to tell anyone how to do their work in another field, but I wondered how those coils are going to stay in place.
They are designed to grip as the bolt is tightened.
He was out of CRC!
Having installed hundreds of helicoils I can say that there's no need to worry. Those suckers aren't going to move. They're designed to fit right and can only be screwed in with the insertion tool/ tang that slightly reduces the OD of the spiral insert. Break off the tang and they are virtually impossible to get out, even if you want to. Don't ask me how I know this LOL
Awesome jaws...reminds me of a fractal vise!
Stronger than original. Good job!
Thanks Adam! I asked you for a video on Facebook and you provided a good video. ❤
Super video, I like the tools that are new and cutting edge. Don’t get me wrong I have done some sketchy setups and paid the price for it but now I know there is a better way. Thanks for sharing.
@Abom790 no scammers allowed!
Sepending a morning watching this with a cup of coffee priceless THANKS