Yet Another 3.0 Head Gasket Thread

[Russianblue]

I tend to be very long winded so i will ATTEMPT to keep this brief.

In, January, the expansion tank blew, car overheated and spilled coolant everywhere. It was repaired and has been fine for 5 months. As the weather warmed, started losing coolant. A coffee cup per week. No leaks. Then last week it started overheating again and now overheats within 5-7 minutes of starting. Dynamic Auto Tune in Charlotte kept it for several days and we determined there was a cyl head problem.

I pulled it apart to assess and check for stripped block threads and below is what I found.

ONE bolt, with two threads deformed from warpage. At least that's what it appears to be.

I haven't actually lifted the head off yet. I made what I hope is not a critical mistake by not keeping track of which bolt went in which hole and i haven't done the re-torque test yet. I goofed on that one I suppose but I didn't even notice the stripped thread until this morning. I thought all of them had come out perfectly clean and i was golden....and I didn't see WHICH hole was damaged..

Also, i don't have a torque angle wrench and must borrow one.

you guys think it's pretty likely i will strip some additional holes once the re-torque is done?

some of the stripped hole jobs i have seen look a LOT worse than this. is it possible to tell anything else from the pictures of the bolts?

i'm not buying a $500 timesert kit. i may attempt to just hand tap a timesert or two or try the Mercedes 11mm bolt trick. but if this takes more than couple of block hole repairs and the head is not able to just be skimmed, this car is done. i really just need it to be able to beat around town for another couple of months before my kid goes to college (withOUT a car). I am willing to spend about $750-$1000 to fix this. if it's gonna be more, it's junked.