BLAKE
10-16-2003, 10:45 PM
I rebuilt my three 97's with Vintage Speed kits this past weekend, but was surprised to find that one of the bodies was stripped where the needle/seat assembly screws in. It had been previously been sealed with some sorta putty, but I wanted to helicoil it or use something similar for a long-term fix. No luck. I talked to Charlie Price, and he told me that the seat assy threads are 7/16-26, which are tough to find. He had a special Helicoil tap and sleeves made, so I shipped it off to him for a fix. The price was right.
THEN, in typical fashion, I poked around online and found that 7/16-26 is a British Std Cycle thread (BSC), and Newman Tools sells a $40 Helicoil type kit in this size. However, the thread angles for American and British are different (55 deg vs. 60 deg).
QUESTION 1 - think the BSC thread insert would work on the Stromberg without leaking? or would the thread angle mismatch cause a problem?
QUESTION 2 - this has to be a common problem on 60 yr old Strombergs - how do you guys fix them? I assume not everyone ships them back to Charlie Price and his custom-made Helicoil.
For the record, I'm happy with my decision to mail mine off to Charlie Price - the cost is the same (or less) than the Newman Tools kit woulda cost. I just figured other folks have fixed them via other means, so am curious how they did it.
THEN, in typical fashion, I poked around online and found that 7/16-26 is a British Std Cycle thread (BSC), and Newman Tools sells a $40 Helicoil type kit in this size. However, the thread angles for American and British are different (55 deg vs. 60 deg).
QUESTION 1 - think the BSC thread insert would work on the Stromberg without leaking? or would the thread angle mismatch cause a problem?
QUESTION 2 - this has to be a common problem on 60 yr old Strombergs - how do you guys fix them? I assume not everyone ships them back to Charlie Price and his custom-made Helicoil.
For the record, I'm happy with my decision to mail mine off to Charlie Price - the cost is the same (or less) than the Newman Tools kit woulda cost. I just figured other folks have fixed them via other means, so am curious how they did it.