Thread chaser tips needed

[Guest]

Hello friends,

I need to run a thread chaser into my #2 spark plug hole. I've read here to use a thick grease on the end to catch any metal bits. The instructions with the thread chaser I recently purchased says to use anti-seize. I was also told to do this on a cold motor.

Is there anything else? Would you guys expound a little more? Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'd hate to booger it up and have to repair it with some kind of insert.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[posplayr]

Cliff

Grease is to catch the bit so that they don't go into the motor. Anti-cease to avoid pulling threads.

Anti-cease can be used for both purposes; just a little messier for a black motor anyway.

Good luck

Jim

[GQROD]

You can also use petroleum jelly.

[BassCliff]

Thanks Jim, Mr. GQROD.

Should I just screw it all in at once?

Or should I turn it in 2 or 3 revolutions, back it out, clean it up, re-grease it, then go a little deeper, repeat?

Thanks a bunch!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[BassCliff]

Ray just called me to tell me to make sure the piston is at Bottom Dead Center before I screw in the thread chaser. I'll use a wooden spoon handle or similar to check.

Thanks Ray!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Macmatic]

Why BDC? I usually go for TDC with the valves closed due to the much smaller cylinder area. When I'm done I always take an air gun with a thin wand and blow air all over inside the cylinder. I almost always catch site of a stray sliver or two or carbon bits broken off by the tap coming out of the cylinder.

/\/\ac

[willie]

Personally, I'd go a few turns at a time, with a cleaning between attempts. In addition, I'd find suitable pieces of tubing that you can make an adapter of sorts to go from a vacuum cleaner nozzle to a tube small enough to go in the sparkplug hole. That way you'll be able to vacuum out any chips that don't get caught in the grease.
Willie in TN

[themess]

Seems to me that almost any method of cleaning threads would put a few chips inside the cylinder. So, without any experience, and having never discussed it with anyone with experiences, here's what I'd consider doing:

1) Use the stick to put the piston at BDC.

2) Coat a bunch of Q-tips with light grease or thick oil, and use then to swab the threads. Start at the bottom and move up in a spiral.

3) Chase the threads and repeat with the Q-tips

4) Use some solvent, even kerosene or gasoline with Q-tips, to chase the threads. I would not want to leave any residue in the threads. I think that it would carbonize and make the plugs stick.

Here's my wild idea:

5) Fill the combustion chamber with kerosene or gasoline, they suck it out (using a hand pump), and repeat several times.

With luck, the solvent would remove enough grease from any metal chips that they could be pulled up with the kerosene.

Why BDC? The height of the combustion chamber is very small relative to its diameter. Solvent being sucked out would move slowly, and wouldn't be able to suspend metal chips. At BDC, the cylinder holds 200+ cc. Depth is comparable to diameter. Flow rate should be high enough to suspend chips.

It wouldn't be necessary to use fresh gas each time. It could be passed through a coffee filter, which would also show if anything had been caught. A slightly curved tube in the cylinder could be used to pull the kerosene or gas from different quadrants each time. I wouldn't let it sit for more than a few seconds, since some would escape through end gaps in the rings.

6) Change the oil.

[Nessism]

A few aluminum chips in the cylinder won't hurt anything. They will blow out the exhaust port or burn up during combustion. Do what the others say and catch the chips using grease or anti seize and don't worry beyond this.

[Griffin]

A few aluminum chips in the cylinder won't hurt anything. They will blow out the exhaust port or burn up during combustion. Do what the others say and catch the chips using grease or anti seize and don't worry beyond this.

I agree. Just to be safe, whenever I've used a chaser on a spark plug hole, I stick the nozzle of my mini shop vac over the hole for a few seconds to try to suck anything out that may have fallen in.

[BassCliff]

Thanks everyone!

The operation was a success.

Ray suggested BDC so that there would be no chance of me twisting the thread chaser into the top of the piston. I thought it was a good idea.

I went a few turns at a time, cleaning and re-greasing the chaser each time. I found a few aluminum bits after I took the chaser out the last time after going all the way through the threads. There was also a couple of little bits in grease I could see hanging on the inside of the spark plug hole which I removed using q-tips. I put the spark plug back and it went in with normal effort all the way down to the crush washer. The motor started up and sounded just fine. The oil is getting changed tomorrow, after a valve check.

Thanks to all of you for your insight and encouragement.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[chef1366]

Why not just use a Dremmel?

[pbdavey]

I'm attempting the same, but I'm looking for general tips about threads. What if I'm having trouble getting the chaser perpendicular to the hole? I've read to hand tighten at first until it's well started, then use a wrench, but I can't even get it that far, the threads make it want to go at a slight angle. How do I know if I'm screwed and need a more invasive fix? Is a chaser only if the threads have very minor damage?

Thanks for any help!

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. pbdavy,

I'll admit, I think I got a little lucky. I eye-balled my #3 plug angle and made sure when I was threading #2 that it was at about the same angle, actually the opposite, but equal, angle. String a tape measure on the top of the engine between the fins, use it to measure the tips of the plugs and put them in about the same place before you start screwing it in.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff