Help!..my car has eaten another part

[ga.spyder]

I am in my garage,watching it snow flakes the size of baseballs! Perfect time to check some fluids.So,I take the fill plug out of the steering box,and it slips out of my mitts.And....its gone.Kaput! Never to be seen or heard from again.Swallowed by the black hole! So...could someone give me the size and thread of a bolt to put back in there.I have tried everything I have and nothing fits.The head of the plug was pretty rounded anyway,but now I can't use the car.Thanks...now I will go back to my proposal to have the next Winter Olympics in Georgia !!!! Grrrrrrrrrrr
Craig

[pope]

I believe that is a M12 x 1.5
Those kind of plugs (pipe threads) have tapered threads that get wider as you screw it in, unlike a screw that would just continue to thread till the head stopped it.

[ga.spyder]

Hey Pope,does that mean I have to try and find a plug for the steering box,or will that size bolt seal it?If I could turn the car upside down and shake it ,I could open a hardware store with what comes out!
Craig

[mbouse]

i think you'll serve yourself best by looking for someone parting out a spider. a bolt has straight threads..same diameter at the top and bottom. pipe threads get wider as you go up the pipe.

i could show you where your plug went, but the light is not very good here.

[katsi]

I don't have any answers for you. I can only offer my humble understanding of "Where the F K did that go". I too have dropped things that have fallen into the abyss without as much as a sound. For example, I dropped a small washer from the carb bolt the other day - could not find it anywhere. Ended up nesteled between the timing belt and the main gear - snap!. And, let us not forget about the small, insignificant tip to the spark plug that may or may not now reside on top of the piston in my spare motor. Anyway, I don't mean to take away form your grief. I just want you to know that I feel your pain. Maybe we can all join forces and plead our cases to all the beer companies so that they will feel compelled to place pictures of our lost ones on the back of beer cans in hopes that some day they will return to their rightfull places unharmed.

NOW BACK TO REALITY
Keep looking In the garage. You're going to have to look just as hard to find a replacement.

[ga.spyder]

Any body out there have one of these plugs.I was going to use the car this weekend...I guess thats out!The worst part is the damn thing was full..wouldnt take a drop
Katsi,we both need to learn a lesson.Denise has been telling me for years to stuff rags in those shock and motor mount holes when I work on that thing.Gawd,I hate when she's right!

[mdrburchette]

I get tired of being right all the time....well maybe not. I am female for cying out loud.
I got you one in the mail Craig. Again, you owe me...big time.

[mbouse]

ahh.... now i see it. and you will too; right after the postman delivers the package from Denise!

[kilrwail]

Hey Craig - tough break, but Denise to the rescue, again. I was going to suggest you try a radiator shop if there's one near you - they deal with those fittings all the time. Too bad about your snow - I could have the Spider out today but it's still a bit cool for top-down driving. But it's sunny and the roads are dry; won't be long now.

[ga.spyder]

We are having the endless winter in the South.Denise's husband Ron said he thought a 1/8'' pipe plug might work.I will check...once the roads are cleared...again!
Craig

[katsi]

Katsi,we both need to learn a lesson.Denise has been telling me for years to stuff rags in those shock and motor mount holes when I work on that thing.Gawd,I hate when she's right!

- I never even considered that!

ahh.... now i see it. and you will too; right after the postman delivers the package from Denise!

Oh man, my side hurts.

By the way, did you check the washing maching. Stuff always ends up in the bottom of the washing machine.

[ventura ace]

. . . Denise has been telling me for years to stuff rags in those shock and motor mount holes when I work on that thing.Gawd,I hate when she's right!

That's good advice -- just be sure to remove the rags before you drive off. They can get sucked up into a belt or, as in my case, become set afire by the heat from the exhaust downpipe that the rag was touching.

Alvon

[So Cal Mark]

use an old shift boot to cover the shock mount holes. Just close up the small hole at the top and stuff it in there

[narfire]

Katsi...when Jay L. retires you have my vote for his job
Chris

[manoa matt]

Craig,

I would either get a flexible/articulated magnet and fish it around in the shock tower recess and the crossmember area where the engine mount is.

If a bolt has straight threads then all you need is an O ring or rubber washer under the head. The head will seal to the box top instead of relying on the tapered threads.

If those tactics fail I probably have one for you.

matt