what are my options? Choke (stove) heater port looks toast.

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Old Apr 6, 2017 | 06:14 PM
  #1  
Hooptie's Avatar
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what are my options? Choke (stove) heater port looks toast.

hey guys. I finally got my $60 worth of choke heater tubes to replace it, after one snapped off. I went to install it today, and both bolts snapped off. also the port in the intake the heater goes into looks awfully ruined. it had more then one gasket on it. and the whole plate was bowed. and all super rusty. there is not a flat part of the surface and one edge looks totally blown out. any ideas how to fix this? buying a new manifold is not really an option for me right now as I don't have $300, or the time to drop into it. could I use exhaust putty to bridge the gap and file it down maybe? just trying to get ideas. thanks guys.
stove_zpstne1l1lv.jpg
Old Apr 6, 2017 | 07:19 PM
  #2  
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After you remove the broken bolts, gently file the surface smooth. Make a thicker gasket, use a hi temp sealer, and reinstall.
Old Apr 6, 2017 | 07:37 PM
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^^^X2... Drill, Tap. and grind/file surface flat... Gasket & sealer...
Second option - find another good used intake...
Old Apr 24, 2017 | 06:14 PM
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here's an update, so if this gets searched by someone having the same problem there's more info.

So this was whole thing was a bit of a nightmare. here's what the original choke heater looked like when I pulled it. its insanely bowed and had I think 4 gaskets on it. thus why the whole port was eroded away for sure.
choke3_zpsiizi9au8.jpg

you probably can't see from the angle but filing down as-is wasn't really an option. there wasn't enough material to keep it a flat port. the biggest nightmare was the easy-outs. I REALLY should have started by drilling them out and re-tapping. the first two-easy outs broke off in each bolt. and once that happens most people consider it game over. after hours of drilling and breaking off an unreal amount of drill bits probably 7 or 8 and two dremel bits , I used a punch to knock the broken easy-out farther down. and managed to get two more holes big enough for another easy-out....well of course those broke off as well, leaving me where I started. I was thrilled -_- so another entire day of breaking drill bits and actually breaking the tip off of my punch. I managed to get what looked more like two pits then bolt holes. then I very carefully used larger bits to get some sort of material to re-tap. it looked like this at one point.
choke1_zpsu8mhv9qw.jpg

you can see the hole on the left has turned into more of a pocket of broken easy-outs hahaha. anyway, I eventually managed to tap in a few threads...like 2 threads. then I used quicksteel (to the rescue) to build up port again. all this with the bolts still in. so I could get the extra threads. hey, at this point I'll take quicksteel threads. I'll take any threads. I carefully backed them out to keep the threads. after it dried it filed it flat and it looked like a port again.
choke%202_zpsnjmbigb3.jpg

with a little extra orange permatex, and all new heater pieces and gasket. it worked pretty well. obviously I only managed to get it "tight enough" without stripping it. but the choke is working and its not leaking, so temporary success achieved. thanks for the info guys!
Old Apr 24, 2017 | 06:38 PM
  #5  
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You can go one size large with the bolts or use heli coils.
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