Engine and Transmission Tech

Limping newbie of the month, back again. My water pump was leaking like a sieve through the bolt holes, so I pulled apart the cooling system, thinking I had messed up sealing the gasket. Turns out yet again I got screwed on the rebuild. The timing cover has been corroded away at three of the holes. Obviously, if I'd known what I was doing I'd have caught this before installing the water pump in the first place.
Pictures of two are below; excuse the mess, haven't yet finished removing the gasket residue. Repairing the first one seems fairly straightforward, roll up some paper in the (unthreaded) bolt hole and plug the little hole with JB Weld. The other two are trickier, as the threaded bolt jacket needs to be rebuilt all the way out to the sealing face. Obviously I can't just put a bolt in there and cover it with JB Weld, as the JB Weld will fuse to the bolt.
I see 3 possibilities:
1. Is there some coating I can put on a bolt so JB Weld won't stick to it?
2. Put a nylon bolt or something in the bolt hole and then dig it out after JB Welding?
3. Maybe I just need to have a welder rebuild it properly.

As always, your advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Billy

I'd replace the cover... which incidentally may also solve or at least help with your oil pressure concerns. If your cover is old, there will be wear in the section where the oil pump gears spin.

I'm using a Buick V6 front cover on my 215... which works just fine. It looks like the last two photos here: [www.britishv8.org] (I fabricated a timing pointer and bent it to align with the line on my harmonic balancer when the engine is at TDC, so now I can use a dial-back timing light to set timing.) The V6 cover comes with a neoprene front seal, whereas the front cover that came with my engine way back when had a "rope" seal.

My first recommendation would be to invest in a new cover, however,if you have to use JB Weld, it's possible to drill and tap after curing. .