Need help with Front Brake bolt problem

What car is this for?

 

Are these standard Dunlap calipers?

Art S.

 

Geltman:
There is a product by the name of Helicoil that might work. I have used them to secure head bolts and spark plugs, but not brake calipers. They can take over 100 ft pounds of torque. To install one, you must drill out the hole and tap it with a thread tap to match your bolt pattern. Then, screw the bolt into it and torque to spec. The downside of this product is, as your mechanics advised, you must increase the size of the hole in which the bolt is going, so it may weaken the spindle. It would be best to take the spindle off the car and use a drill press to drill out the hole to get a tight fit with the Helicoil. I have had good luck using a bit of Loctite or JB Weld to seat the helicoil in your new threaded hole. Ask you mechanics about the wisdom of using a helicoil in this application. Best of luck!
Ed

 

I have complete front daytona suspension including spindles, in stock.
Will only sell front spindles as a pair.

 

is a helicoil out of the question? sounds like you live in or around Houston. I may have a couple of ideas for a second opinion. email or call me if you'd like. steve meltzer, 713-795-4882 (W) or <[email protected]>

 

I would not use a helicoil here, the lateral load and heat expansion is too high. The only safe answer is new uprights, they are available, its worth shopping around. Not sure that you need to buy in pairs.

My guess is that your hole is oversized because someone has "repaired" the thread in the past. Too many cowboy brake shops out there.

Moral of the story is that we should all check caliper bolts regularly.

Ian
365GTB/4

 

thanx for the lesson in metallurgy and engineering. makes sense to me. I had a flywheel (on my Kirkham/Cobra) that wobbled and chewed up a couple of starters. I thought that failure was do to the "bubba" who installed it not torqueing the flywheel bots to the correct specs (was about 25, shoulda been 75); maybe it was the helicoils they used on it. s

 

How about timecerts - kind of like solid helicoils?

Regards,

Art S.

 

I understand it is expensive to "Do things right". but just buy a pair of spindles from the person who said they have a pair available above. Why would you want to do a micky mouse repair on this car? especially on brakes!

 

Try Bill Young at GT Car Parts (I think) in Phoenix Arizona. Failing that contact Kevin O'Rourke at Mototechnique in the UK. [email protected]

No disrespect to Tom Shaughnessy, but someone may be prepared to sell you a single spindle.

 

Tried T Rutlands yet?
Greg Oholman at PartSource would be my next phone call

 

A helicoil should work fine. It will be just as strong as the original threads.

Brian

 

I guess I sould keep my mouth shut sometimes. Listen to Brian. He knows what is best because he is a pro. You don't want to screw around with brakes.I guess I am just fed up with seeing all the micky mouse repairs that have been done on my car over the years that I am now dealing with. Hope your problemit gets worked out.

 

I've been following this thread with interest as I'll bet there are several reasonable solutions short of buying one or more spindles. If the car is a concours example, and appearance is tantamount, then replacing the spindle or a helicoil are good options. However, at the risk of sounding like a "Bubba" (? Bubbini ? in Italian), and never having see the car's caliper/spindle setup, can you not essentially forget the threads, and put an appropriately sized Grade 8 bolt through and through with a nut (or two if you'd like) and Red Loctite on the other side? I don't know if there's room on the backside for a nut but if there is....might not look "factory", but it would be substantial and cheap.

I ran this conundrum by a friend who is a brilliant mechanic and quite savvy with innovative thinking. His comment was "sounds more like the province of a good industrial weldiing shop, rather than a Ferrari mechanic". Perhaps such an enterprise might be able to save this situation; not unexpectedly,
Fof H rarely sees these cars and I wouldn't expect them to think much outside the box here.

steve meltzer, "I may be wrong, but I'm never in doubt"

 

I never touched the car...LOL!

Good Luck.....put them to work sourcing a new (used) one, save Tom S.'s complete system for a wreck job....

Good suggestions on vendors here......good luck.

Glad the car's ok, after a scare like that.

 

A properly installed helicoil will be more than adequate. But it is your car, do what you feel is best.

New(er) Ferraris come with helicoils installed into the aluminum hubs. Works great.

E

 

I feel vindicated! thanx steve meltzer "never enough time to do it right; always enough time to do it over"

 

if you decide to replace the pieces, don't throw the old ones away! One of us will buy the off of you.

Regards,

Art S.