RE: Blew a spark plug

["James A. Desveaux" <desveaux@ucla.edu>]

Don:

YOu should be able to fix your problem with a helicoil.  Have a good
machinist or mechanic do it, unless you're really skilled.  If they drill in
there evenly (and that isn't hard, since the head is aluminum), use the red
loctite on the helicoil, it should be fine.  My advice is to leave the plug
out of that hole for at least a few seconds, and let the engine compression
blow out the metal fragments caused by drilling for the helicoil.  I
helicoiled one of the plug wells on my Jaguar 12 or 13 yrs ago when one of
my customers owned the car.  I rebuilt the head about 5 yrs ago, and that
helicoil is still perfect.  Just remember: FROM NOW ON, ALWAYS USE THREAD
ANTI-SEIZE ON THE THREADS OF SPARK PLUGS BEFORE YOU INSTALL THEM.         

HTH.

- Jim