I have been working on the front brakes of my TD, when I ran into a problem. The bolt holes that hold the caliper to the steering knuckle were cross-threaded and galled, so I bought the Craftsman rethreading kit and got to work.

Working with a ratchet I would run the tap in 1/2 - 1 turn then back out a few. Every once in a while I would remove the tap completely, clean it off and re-oil. Standard tap techniques (I thought). After cleaning out the upper hole, I went to work on the lower one. Just as I had the tap almost all the way through, it broke off as I was backing it out! I guess it will be a trip down to the machine shop for this knuckle.

Is it recommended to heli-coil these holes, or should I be looking for another knuckle?

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1984 300TD