Hey, I was a dumbass and I was hoping someone could shed some light on what I could do. I just finished installing my intake successfully (one of the first things I've done by myself and pretty proud I didn't mess that part up) and began putting back my strut bar. I tightened the driver's side and started on the other (which I later found out to be a bad idea). It started going in, but then stopped. I tried to wiggle it in place, but it didn't seem to go. Eventually, I just tried to use some brute force. I still came up short. When I realized it would probably help loosening the other bolts, I noticed that I stripped/messed up the threads on the bolt. Then the worse news is that when I just tried puttting the good bolts in the other holes, that the thread in the passenger side holes were also stripped/messed up. I became pretty concerned because it now takes more than buying new bolts from nissan. I have no idea what to do. Should I go to the dealership? A friend said that they had heard of a re-threading tool, but doesn't know anything about it. I'm at a lost, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

i would advise never ever going near a wrench again.

 

I suspect that you are talking about the threads in the car body under the end of the brace. Your buddy has a tap & die set. You use it to restore the original threads. Give it a try. You can buy new bolts from NISSAN. Check the regional forum for bolts. Anyone who has put spacers under the brace has the original bolts.

 

please, for the luv of your car, spend $20 for an ebay service manual. this would have saved you from all the grief you're going to experience.

you're going to need a die and tap to chase the treads. that might help. but do not try to reinstall the stb without loosening the adjusting bolt (loosen the locknuts then turn the adjusting bolt 1.7 turns towards the rear [ccw from the passenger side perspective]. you'll notice a black dot on one of the bolt flats to help you count the turns. after you have the stb mounting bolts back on and tight {install all of the bolts/nuts then tighten them} turn the adjusting bolt back to its original position and tighten the lock nuts.)

Good luck.

 

+1

You'd have never had that problem if you had properly loosened and removed it to begin with. Hope the re-threading of the holes works for you, but before you try to re-install it again, you need to follow the procedure above and loosen the bar or you'll just have the same problem all over again.

 

home depot sells the metric bolts, 5 dollars.

 

Thank you guys so much for your help and advice... I just bought a manual off of eBay and I'm going to invest in a tap and die set this weekend and try to fix it. I will let you guys know how it turns out.

by the way, does anybody know the size of the bolt?

 

99% sure is 10mm x 1.25mm pitch. Very common. To verify, take the nut that goes on the one stud on each shock tower and make sure it fits the bolt you buy.

 

I just want to thank all of you guys for the advice. I bought a tap and die set from sears (went to lowes and home depot... neither had the 10mm 1.25 that I needed) and my friend and i rethreaded both the car and the bolts... amazing...

thanks again