So close and yet...

[wera racer]

try grinding off a few threads off the bolt until it seats properly and torques up correctly

Sure, I can do that and I have shorter bolts. What I didn't make clear was the way it went in makes me feel like I may regret trying to remove it now, if that makes sense. But then I guess there's nothing to lose since it's not tight on the cam holder now anyway.

[GregT]

Helicoiled threads often feel tight as you reach the bottom of the helicoil, particularly in blind holes where you may not have been able to tap as deep as you'd like.
Shortening the 6mm screw will work if you're reluctant to wind it in
Are you sure the helicoil is inserted properly - it hasn't jumped a thread as they can be prone to do ?

[Agemax]

Sure, I can do that and I have shorter bolts. What I didn't make clear was the way it went in makes me feel like I may regret trying to remove it now, if that makes sense. But then I guess there's nothing to lose since it's not tight on the cam holder now anyway.

try and ease it out slowly ,if it wont come out easy then it may just unscrew the helicoil and pull it out with the bolt

[wera racer]

I guess what I'm asking is am I pushing my luck by running this thing with only three of the four cam holder bolts working?

I just don't know what the forces are. You've got one exhaust valve on that side opening which exerts an upward force (especially with racing springs installed), but this is countered by the shaft pushing down on the opposite exhaust holder and the cam chain on the sprocket. Plus the rotation of the earth, the rising MS river and all sorts of other effects.

I guess my options are to either try and fix it and risk further damage because I'll have to loosen and re-tighten the other three bolts yet one more time to get at it, or just run it and hope it doesn't explode.

[pete]

One thing I've seen a lot of guys on here do (and am contemplating myself) is putting studs in the head to replace the bolts and using nuts to lock the exhaust on.

This seems to be a huge improvement over the risk of stripping more exhaust bolt holes...

[wera racer]

One thing I've seen a lot of guys on here do (and am contemplating myself) is putting studs in the head to replace the bolts and using nuts to lock the exhaust on.

This seems to be a huge improvement over the risk of stripping more exhaust bolt holes...

I've pondered the same thing, Pete. For now I went ahead and carefully removed the bolt, shortened it a couple mm and VERY carefully reinstalled it as tightly as I dared. All the rest are torqued to 6 FP, a tad less than the manual-recommended 7 FP.

Fingers crossed. Hoping to light this thing off Thursday for the first time in six months and head to Barber Friday.

[Billy Ricks]

One thing I've seen a lot of guys on here do (and am contemplating myself) is putting studs in the head to replace the bolts and using nuts to lock the exhaust on.

This seems to be a huge improvement over the risk of stripping more exhaust bolt holes...

It's his exhaust cam, not the exhaust.

[pete]

It's his exhaust cam, not the exhaust.

Woah, oops! I completely missed the "cam" from that sentence

Ignore what I said... sheesh...