Well...this ain't good
 

What a fabulous day here in central Florida for drive in the coupe. Or so I thought. Got about 6 miles from the house when I heard a pretty loud BANG! then some godawful noise. I thought maybe I had blown a tire. Nope.

Blew the plug clean out of the head. I knew these Eddie Meyer heads were a little sketchy when I bought the car. I guess they are REALLY sketchy now.

They may become wall hangers after I see just how much corrosion there is.

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Can´t really blame a stripped plug thread on corrosion...
Put in a timesert thread insert and be back on the road in notime :)

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

It's called cylinder deactivation, Caddy used it on their 4-6-8 motors lol.

I fixed a Briggs & Stratton lawnmower with an insert, worked for years until I wore it out.

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

I have repaired these with "Heli-Coils" and have had no problems. From everything I have heard, "Time-Serts" are superior. You may be all right, most of the stripped threads on spark plugs I experienced have been the result of crap not cleaned out and a large Flex-Handle.

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Hoping you were able to "limp" it home?

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Stick a whistle in it . Making the best , almost . Love the car wanto trade ?

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Heard follow flatheadmurre’s direction. As always he is spot on with the correct fix.
Good luck.
Cheers
Tony

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Were the threads actually stripped? Could it have been that the plug was loose?

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

all used aluminum heads are subject to do that, last set I put on had 4 bad or suspect plug threads so I did all 8 with inserts to keep from what happened to you

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Let the Flathead fun continue. Drive/Fix/Repeat. Sometimes it's Buy/Fix/Repeat. Pretty sure a cuss nd a band-aid has to be in there somewhere.

Heard, is it only the head/plug, did the hood escape damage? Sweet looking ride!

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Thanks for the encouragement guys. No damage otherwise. Had a bunch of folks stop to help. Then I realized they were just wanting to see the car which was cool with me.

And no, I wasn't suggesting corrosion caused this. I should have clarified that I suspect there is corrosion other places.

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Sorry to hear of your trouble.
Nice 3 window, by the way.
Hope you're able to get her up and running.
I wish I had the weather your having today to go for a cruise.
Another month.....maybe..

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

As others have pointed out, I wouldn't hesitate in using Heli-Coils or other makes of thread repair system. If you aren't comfortable doing it, a machine shop can easily do the job for you.

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Another brand that I don't already see mentioned.... KD
I've used, with good results. Only problem is, when you later want to remove the plug, the insert will also come out.
And, I'm sure you already know, only remove plugs from aluminum heads, cold, like overnight cold, stone cold.
Keensert

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

welcome to the world of alloy heads not many get looked after like they should but the majority survive ,there tougher than they look. not many actualy torque plugs when fitting them less actually use an antisize and even lessactualy wait till their cold . [ i can imagine trying to tell a customer they have ti loose their car overnight just so i can change the plugs : let me know how that works out: just repair the thread and keep on enjoying your ride

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

I worked at a dealership during the 50's and 60's. Many of the makes we carried, were european, with aluminum heads. And, yes, the customer had to leave the car overnight. Probably wouldn't fly well today, but back then, that was the way it was. As a wrench, I did as the boss wanted. And, I wouldn't touch a plug on a warm engine. And, I wasn't about to face the consequences if I pulled some plug threads in a way that the boss didn't approve. Also, back then, we hadn't yet heard of the various inserts that are available today.

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

I never heard of leaving it to go cold. I'll try and follow that in the future. Never used anti-seize either! You learn something new every day.

Mart.

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Thats a easy in the car fix.

That V10 ford had for awhile were good for the same issue and a lot hard to get to.

I like the nickle-ease supposed to be good for higher temperature.

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Glad the problem you encountered has a fairly easy solution. I had an outboard motor do the same thing and wondered what the explosion was.

Re: Well...this ain't good
 

Man, some guys will do anything to get their car noticed on the internet...…so, let me help! DD


The other side of Heard's really cool l'il 3-window!


https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1447182790




The bottom end ain't too shabby, either!


https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...2&d=1497324932
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