another thing is that if you are tapping the bar use a cutting fluid and it will make much cleaner threads, it is very important for tap and dies,


start the die by hand and be sure it the right thread your useing, it is likely written somewhere what it it


as long as it still gets tight,the treads are not ripped out which is good, just run a die on the bar and it will be good to go

if it bottoms out on the hole which it shouldnt then run a die up the thread,then grind a little bit off then run the die off to re tap the threads because it can make a bur to grind and it is way harder to put on over a bur,but if its on first you just unscrew it and its done good as new

and you are so right about wrecking the cheap stuff first....but you wont wreck anything here, do it a bit at a time and clean it off and try it and go a bit more so it gets right tight when it is perfectly were you want and its now custom in sted of stock!