Hey ZedHeads... Both of the fasteners on my radiator cap housing have the heads stripped clean off and I have never personally dealt with something like this. I went to the hardware store and picked up an Irwin 8/32nc and a Century 7/64 drill bits, which are guesses since I don't know metric to imperial conversions like this. I also don't know the density and strength of the bolts, the numbers on the heads were illegible, so I don't know if these drill bits have the strength to even bore a socket into the bolts. I am so vastly out of my depth and terrified of doing more serious or permanent damage to the engine.
The long story is I overheated my '87 Z31 (nonturbo), with white smoke coming thru the A/C vents, exhaust, out the hood, etc, limped the overheated car 90 miles to my hometown mechanic, who told me it would be at least 4 grand to fix, then limped it home again. It still turns over and runs, pretty okay to be honest, but not for long.
These are the things I know I need to fix or replace:
Thermostat, water pump, timing belt, head gaskets, and possibly coolant tubes and possibly piston heads.
What I don't know is if my engine block or radiator have any damage to them. If the community feels like my Z journey is over, I will trust that experience, but I am so darn stubborn and the car was so much fun to drive when I got to drive it! For some reason, I still feel like the car is savable, but that may be denial.
The first step, and frankly only step right now, is seeing if I can get these stripped bolts removed safely, and any help or advice on that matter would be so greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
A fledgling GearHead