Anyone any good with a basic bit of machining?

[losi8igh]

Following on from my calamity earlier today I was wondering if anyone was a dab hand with a bit of basic work?

My Castle Creations motor has M3 holes in it,after a crash today the M3 screws were literally ripped out of the motor,in doing so it has made two of the four holes useless to mount the motor and it would appear I have stripped one of the other two somehow myself now so only one out of the four is any good and that is of no use to no one

The motor mount in the car has M4 holes and screws so I wondered if anyone could re tap the holes in the motor itself to M4 rather than the M3 (ish) they are currently?

I can remove the front plate of the motor so could send just that part along with the supplied M4 screws.

[Alex97]

If the case is plastic and there's enough room around the hole then you might be able to self tap if you drill the hole then use a screw to thread it. To tap it to M4 you'll need to drill the hole to 3.5mm. If you can't self tap using a screw then you'd need to do buy a dye and tap it that way. I'm sure someone will have the tools if you don't. The plastic might be a little brittle so careful when tapping as you don't want to crack it. If it's metal then it would need to be probably tapped with a dye as you can't self tap metal with a screw.

Edited May 1, 2016 by alex97

[spannermonkey]

If they are torn out my guess would be you only need a M4 tap. The holes will be big enough to tap into directly, no need to drill. May be an option to order yourself a tap so your prepared for any further mishaps. 

[spannermonkey]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HSS-METRIC-HAND-TAP-SET-INDIVIDUAL-TAPER-PLUG-BOTTOMING-HAND-TAPS-/350859782830?var=&hash=item51b0df6aae:m:mcDaoozmxKCvlrcAlxtqjDg

These 3 taps will sort all your M4 needs. Used carefully with a small pair of mole grips or better still small adjustable spanner they will tap metal and plastic.

[Alex97]

6 minutes ago, spannermonkey said:

If they are torn out my guess would be you only need a M4 tap. The holes will be big enough to tap into directly, no need to drill. May be an option to order yourself a tap so your prepared for any further mishaps. 

If the screw has been torn out then I dought it's straight or clean, I believe m3 needs to be drilled to 2.6mm so you'd never be able to fit a m4 tap in there.

[Alex97]

2 minutes ago, spannermonkey said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HSS-METRIC-HAND-TAP-SET-INDIVIDUAL-TAPER-PLUG-BOTTOMING-HAND-TAPS-/350859782830?var=&hash=item51b0df6aae:m:mcDaoozmxKCvlrcAlxtqjDg

These 3 taps will sort all your M4 needs. Used carefully with a small pair of mole grips or better still small adjustable spanner they will tap metal and plastic.

For £1.90 I dought they are very well made

 

http://ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-3-Piece-Tap-Wrench-Set-T-Handle-Tapping-Wrench-Handles-AK9799-/381195870437?nav=SEARCH

 

Use a tap wrench as it will be easier to balance it to get it straight. Before doing it watch a video on how to do it, that would be a lot easier than someone explain it. 

[spannermonkey]

M3 thread is 3mm diameter,  if its torn out it will be closer to 3.5mm the ideal size for M4 tap. If we get a torn out M14 we simply tap M16, rarely need to drill. If you use the tapper tap I linked the hole can be as small as 3.2mm. I work with metal and trucks all day, I tap holes every day. Yes the taps are cheap but they will work on the thin cheap metal of an rc motor. I know a tap handle is the correct tool, however the op seems to not want to just throw money at the problem so suggesting he buy a £500 tap and die kit like my one complete with tap and die  handles seems a little pointless. Losi8ight if you want any info on how to do it feel free to Pm me, think my days of helping on the open forum are coming to an end.

[losi8igh]

I would like the motor to have M4 holes as opposed to the M3 holes it has now.

I was almost hoping to tap a M4 thread into the curent M3 hole if that was possible.

For how much the motor cost the front plate seems to be very cheap alloy and quite soft to me.

[Alex97]

14 minutes ago, spannermonkey said:

M3 thread is 3mm diameter,  if its torn out it will be closer to 3.5mm the ideal size for M4 tap. If we get a torn out M14 we simply tap M16, rarely need to drill. If you use the tapper tap I linked the hole can be as small as 3.2mm. I work with metal and trucks all day, I tap holes every day. Losi8ight if you want any info on how to do it feel free to Pm me, think my days of helping on the open forum are coming to an end.

An m3 thread should be drilled to 2.5mm as thats the smallest diameter, even a clean rip should be drilled as a 3mm hole would be to small to tap to m4 . BTW I work with metal every day as well. There's no need to be so touchy if anyone saids anything against you.

Edited May 1, 2016 by alex97

[losi8igh]

I seem to have sorted this

Given the front plate seemed to be quite soft I drilled out the M3 holes to 4mm.

I then got a M4 bolt and basically used that to cut a thread into the alloy front motor plate.

It was a bit tough but it would appear that the screw was harder than the alloy plate and has indeed cut a thread into it.

Mounted it all back together and if anything it all seems so much better than it did before,the car as a whole seems to free wheel so much further than it did before,weird.

[dazp1976]

Hopefully all works out  

If not then take the front plate off & post it to one of the lads. I'm sure someone will drill/tap some new holes on it somewhere