BEGI coolant spacer WTF
 

Okay so doing my reroute today, I go to test fit the hose barb into the spacer. the barb threads in about 4 threads and I snug it up to go check how it fits on the back of the motor, okay fits well so I go to pull the hose barb out of the spacer to add thread sealant, damn thing will barely move. I fight to get it out it turns but takes lots of force

I get the barb out and the threads are fucked, greaaattt

I figuar ohwell ill figure it out later, i decided to thread in one of the plugs for the spare ports on the spacer. Threads in easy, threads in 4 or so threads then snugs up. I go to remove it to add sealant , wont move....busts my 1/4 rachet

I have never worked with pipe threads, but this just doesnt seem right

So the hose barb that was a bitch to get out and wrecked some threads, so i wire wheel the threads clean. i decide to thread it into one of the spare ports on the spacer. I tighten it down till only acouple threads show. I then use my mouth and finger to check to see if it sealed in the threads....suprise...it didnt

I thought that pipe threads sealed without sealant?
Begi says nothing in thier instructions on how to properly install the plugs/fitting

don't use your hands to tighten fittings.

Hmm yeah I wasnt, i had a nice size wrench.

Pipe threads seal with the threads. You don't use sealant, you use a lubricant, to thread in the fittings further, to create a tighter seal. If that makes sense.

You most likely threaded past some burrs in the thread. Get a NPT tap and chase the threads, just be careful not to tap too far.

The other possibility is that BEGI welded on a tapped fitting, and warped the threads in the process.

Teflon is not a pipe thread sealer, it's just teflon and slippery, as Curly said above.

Sounds like you cross threaded it, or your trying to shove a BSPT fitting into a NPT/vice versa. They look the same, but one has more TPI. 4 threads sounds about right, then the next thread jumps.

I despise threads in aluminum, but brass and aluminum are not materials known for galling. If you can, tap them deeper. Be careful, because it's possible to go too deep, and the fitting will never taper seal.

This is a NPT thread gauge, it should only thread finger tight to the flat on the threads, as an example. Any further is out of spec, too loose.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1410451477

Mine came with two brass plugs, a hose barb fitting, and a 45deg angles fitting that I never figured out why was included (3 ports, 4 fittings). The brass plugs threaded all the way in until they were flush with the spacer with very little resistance, and the hose barb was almost as easy to thread in. I suspect yours was not tapped deep enough. As others have already said, don't tap it too deep when you re-tap it. Also, my instructions specified to use permatex on damn near everything, so that is what I did.

Keith

I used the fittings supplied by begi with my spacer. I looked at some NPT gauges online and didnt see one cheaper than $70

You don't really need a gauge, you just need to be sure the taper seals before the threads bottom out.

I just recently installed mine (august 9) and the plugs didn't get anywhere near flush, maybe 1/2 to 2/3rds the way there and locked up. I didn't try to take them back out though, and it doesn't leak so I figured that was just the way it was supposed to be. Aluminum is way too easy to jack up so there was no way I was going to screw around with pulling the fittings in and out.

From the sarching online I've done, NTPF threads dont need sealant, but NPT threads do.