OK, I already have a minor-to-moderate hassle with the GT40P heads and spark plugs... Now, I notice that one of my tubes is almost worn through from the header bolt rubbing it when it is screwed in and out. Also, on the inside of the curves of almost all of the tubes, near the hole where the bolt goes in, I cannot seem to get the bolts in straight enough to start them into the heads. The head of the bolt hits the tube and makes it only possible to get the bolt in at an angle. I am in the process of taking the header off (driver side) and tap a "groove" into the inner bend of the header tube to give the bolts more clearance. I figure I could "massage" a groove in there... I am using header bolts from AutoZone, with 7/16 hex head and a small round ring around it. There is also a allen hole in the end. I could post a pic of the bolt if anyone needs to see it. Can anyone lead me in a direction to help me get these to feed in straight?
i use arp stainless hex head, 3/8 head size. the 3/8 head will help some. dont get the 12 point set; you cant use an open end wrench on them. its actually the BBC bolt pack listing. are you starting all the bolts only a thread or two at first with the header held away from the cyl head & then tightening each one just a turn at a time?. just a thought or two. when all else fails, ding 'em. just be careful.
These are what I am using. I might try to grind the round part off flat to the head, then put on a washer. That way, I can put the bolt in with a flat facing the tube, then once it is in all the way, it should go perpendicular and begin to thread into the head. Even if I just ground it down to only one flat and line that flat side to the pipe on the way in... Rather do this than mess with the headers. Yeah, the 3/8" head might help also. Can you get those locally, or is it a JEGS item? And yeah, I do one or two turns at a time. It is just a hassle getting the rear of each pair started...
i had these problems w/ my 6208s , couple of them did not want to start straight.... i played with it long enough and got it them but i had to start couple of them w/ my hand and use a open end wrench... could barely turn the wrench , everytime i had to flip the wrench around to get the wrench on the bolt, and still could only turn it less than a 1/4inch before i got my 6208s i tried couple cheap 302 headers , and i know the header bolts are PITA , i THINK 3/8 is almost a must w/ these , not sure though i used 7/16 on mine. eddie
scooper - availability depends on how well your local stores stock arp stuff. it is a BBC part, so you stand a good shot at them having them. maybe just in steel, tho. i dont mind the $2 xtra for the stainless ones. ive had them since 1991. no rust, no crud in the threads, even look good. of course if you got a set of heads with the wide bolt pattern & headers to match, all these problems would disappear. ha ha ha. just kidding. arp # 100-1102 or 400-1102 for stainless
Scott, I believe these are the style header bolts you need for the ones that are hard to reach. I believe the head is a smaller diameter than the 'flange' on the ones you are using. ...maybe. O'Reillly's, NAPA, or Competion Sales should have them - maybe even Auto Zone.
Not sure if I could get an allen in there. I stick with hex heads so I can do the half-turn, swap around wrench, half-turn like Eddie is talking about. I do think those without the little flange would clear better. I will call a couple of semi-local speed shops and see if I can get some on the way home. Would like to have it running tomorrow afternoon for test and tune if the track isn't flooded...
I have to use the 3/8" reduced head size bolts on my headers too. They appear to be cheap summit headers. I also have to put the inside bolts in the header before I put the header against the head or I can't start them in the head holes. As was already stated, the 12-point don't work at all. I tried cutting down a box end wrench to use the pretty 12-point stainless bolts that came with my bolt kit, but there was no way to cut it down far enough and still get any grip on the bolt head.
I have never heard of it and it just came to my mind...Has anyone ever tried studs? What would stop us from using them? Just thinking out loud...
i dont about 302 guys....but my windsor is to tight for studs cant get the header over the studs....i was thinking the same thing but in might work for a 302.... any body want to buy set of studs and nuts? they are 12 pt
scott... forget the allen heads... use 7/16th hex heads.. if need be cut the bolt down. or put the bolt on first... don't tighten it all the way down. then put the others in and work each bolt in alternating tighting each one.... it works all the time. also get the right angled wrench along with a thin walled one it can make all the differance in the world!
Correct on the studs...they would hit the headers at they slide in. I found decent ARP bolts with 3/8 head, but they don't make them long enough for me. So, looks like metal massaging on the inside of the tubes, then maybe see about grinding the flange off the bolts and use washers. May try grinding one of the bolts first, easier than taking out the header.
the 3/8 ARPs were about 1/2" too short for my setup. The guy at the shop said they didn't come any longer without going to 7/16". So, I have the header out, and will start pounding on the tubes to give some clearance. I tried to grind the flanges down on my bolts, then grind the heads down and rounded, still no go. The shorter ones will drop right in, but the reason I need the longer bolts is to put that 1/4" spacer in there to clear the plugs. By the way, I found that the header didn't want to move once the engine was jacked up. There was a long bolt that held up the power steering drop bracket, and it was just barely clearing the header at the bottom. Once I pulled it out, the header almost fell out of the car. I might leave it off when I am done. There are still the two bolts holding the bracket up, this is the bolt that holds it by bolting parallel to the ground. It extended WAY into the header area...
I hated to do this, but... At least now the longer bolts go straight in. Should work good until I get 400HP I got to work on putting in just the rear bolt starting at 4:00am this morning, spent until 6am til the wife woke up, then from 2:30-5:30pm, and finally decided "screw this bolt (pun intended)...I am going to make this easier from now on!" and pulled off the header and did this. So, I spent 5 hours on one bolt, then spent 10 minutes pounding the tubes so I will never have to go through this again!
