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Bodger Fix What they don't show you in the repair manual - tales of duct tape, bailing wire and WD 40. Bodge, Bush Mechanics, farmers fix, patch, temporary repair, or whatever your definition, tell us YOUR best story of a bodge that got you home!
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Old 14 Sep 2016
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Join Date: May 2011
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Bodged repair on stripped spark plug port

Hey, just thought I'd share this in case it helps.

Had the threads for the spark plug stripped out of my cylinder head, happened in a bit of a "conflict zone" which wasn't ideal.

All these fixes were temporary but each got me 300-400kms further down the road.

1. Mangle (flatten) a section of thread on the plug. Hopefully this will allow any remaining threads to hit the mangled piece and lock in place. This was my least favourite method.

2. Try a longer reach plug (with washers if necessary). I discovered my plug hole had another 5mm or so of unused thread down in the head that a longer plug could bite in to. Make sure you rotate engine by hand then remove plug and check piston isn't colliding with plug.

3. Wrap the plug in a strip of thin baking foil like material and screw it back in. I'm not sure what the last mechanic used but it was very thin. This is the latest method that is still hanging in there.

Anyone else got any other tricks? I'm back in "civilisation" now so I'm about to order a plug rethreading kit.
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Old 19 Jan 2017
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Vancouver Island, Canada
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Away back in the 1960's I had a Triumph Bonneville which the PO had cross threaded a spark plug. I used a thin plate of copper foil ... 1/16"(?) to wrap the plug. It lasted long enough to get through the season. When the snow started to fly, I was able to remove the cylinder head & get a Helicoil installed.
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