Thank you 3B, much appreciated. I'm pretty sure I have a 5/16-18 tap in the garage and will try and clean it up tomorrow.
I just need a little luck with that hole in the block...man I hope running a tap in there will clean it up enough to run a new bolt in there and hold to torque spec.
I'll report back on whether or not it was a success. I hope it works...or helicoil is probably going to be my fix.
