Should I heli-coil all my cam bolts?

[Guest]

My gs1100 head had about 5 stripped holes that I just repaired with a heli coil kit. I used drill press to drill holes and so the inserts went in perfect. The rest of the holes are still in about 90% good condition but since the head is off the bike would it be good to just heli-coil them all? I have seen some companies selling brand new aluminum parts that all the holes allready have heli-coil in them. Trying to do a heli-coil on the bike is hard to do without going in crooked. Thanks

[bwringer]

It makes sense to me -- whoever over-torqued the stripped holes likely over-torqued all of them. It's quite likely all the threads are damaged to some degree.

I'd see what the guys with more racing and tuning experience say.

[Paul.S]

Well I went ahead and heli-coiled all 24 cam bolt holes. Took a long time but it was pretty easy drilling the holes nice and square with my Dad's mill. It has a small crank knob that lowers the head very slow and you can watch the depth gauge so you get the perfect depth on every hole.20170804_201500.jpg

[posplayr]

You should also buy all new cam bolts. I have had used ones stretch and twist off even using a calibrated torque wrench.

[Paul.S]

Good idea I will do that.