Stripped oil drain plug Options

[smj]

Bringing the 914-4 back from mostly sitting for the past three years (under 1,000 miles in all that time), I forgot the oil drain plug was boogered up by a DAPO or oil change place...

Based on what came out, there were only a few shreds of thread somehow attached to the bottom of the drain plug hole, and a horribly mangled soft crush washer. Most of the "bore" is pretty smooth, with some original thread left at the top. Pic below.

My question is how to fix this. I see references to Heli-Coils, but somewhere I got the impression they need some thread left...? Whereas a Time-Sert or similar requires boring and fitting a thread insert.

How difficult is it to do this right with something like a Time-sert for a guy that reassembled some CV joints correctly on the *second* try? With the car up on jack stands in the back, so at an angle. And then what the heck do I use for a drain plug?

Thanks!

[Mark Henry]

I did the pipe plug on my dads vanagon, it worked just fine and was dirt cheap because I had the 3/8 NPT tap.

Timesert would cost over 100 bucks just for a tap kit that you would only ever use once. In this case I'd find a shop with the right tap and let them do it.

Both methods use grease on the tap to catch the shavings, go slow and clean the tap often.

I guess welding is an option, but only if the engine is apart.