Generation IV External Engine - Worst Bolt/Thing to Work On

My christmas present to myself of headers and a UD pulley has somehow turned into that plus H/C/I + gears + stall + shift kit + shifter + torque arm + panhard bar. . .and maybe now a new tranny that I've found a chunk of metal in there.

Anyway, as I lay uner the car pondering how screwed I was this morning I had the sinking feeling that I hadn't seen the worst of it yet. Really, I shudder to think what fresh hell awaits me. . .but as of today, my vote for the very worst bolt to get to on any car that I've ever worked on is the top bolt on the bell housing of the A4 02 Camaro. . . if I didn't have the heads and intake off I have no idea how I would've removed it.

Any votes for the worst bolt on an LS car. . .is there anything worse to work on than a friggin F-bod?

I hate that alternator bracket bolt.

Im with you on that tranny bolt i had to use 3 12 inch extentions to get that top bolt off

There are several bolts that are awful, but their difficulty goes down exponentially after you do it the first time. Wrong section unless you've done a swap btw.

Sorry about the wrong forum, just an oversight.

Astro I dont know how you got to the bolt from behind, I couldn't even see that thing, but I'm only 20"off the ground. . .I used a 3ft extension and an impact to get the torque converter bolts loose though. I got the top bellohousing bolt off with a 13mm stubby wrench while doing a headstand on the valley cover. . .

I know diffifulty goes down after you've done it once. . .but I've always dreaded working on this car which is why it's been untouched for a decade. Still, I think I prefer wrenching on a front-wheel drive even. . .but I drive more than wrench so maybe it isn't soo bad. If there is a next time, I'm dropping the whole mess out the bottom.

Worst bolts are the ones holding the steering rack to the k-member. You can't take them off unless you drop the pan or lift the motor up.

Drop the trans crossmember after you get everything disconnected. Let it hang on the back of the motor and pull the tailshaft down as far as you can. The trans tunnel should open up enough that you can get a couple feet of extension up there with a swival socket on the end of it. Get one of the stiff swival sockets and not one of the ones that flop around. One you get it on the head of the bolt zip it off with a impact gun because sometimes its hard to keep it on using a regular rachet. Its not as bad as it looks once you get in there. Good luck!

The worst bolts are the ones that are 3 millimeters out of reach.
This usually happens when you're already straining to reach it, backwards, upside down, with the opposite hand.

The worst bolts are the ones that are 3 millimeters out of reach.
This usually happens when you're already straining to reach it, backwards, upside down, with the opposite hand.

haha! +1

Exhaust manifold flange bolts on a truck!!!! Takes like 3 hours to do a set of headders and 1.5 hrs of that is for those 6 bolts lmfao :mad: