broken bolt
broken bolt hey guys, when i installed my headers last summer the head of the very last bolt (cylinder 8) broke off so at first the leak wasnt bad, but now its pretty anoying, im not sure how far out of the head the bolt is out, but i was thinking just for the mean time (cause i plan to replace the heads once i get the dough to do so) that i could buy another gasket and just cut the end off it, remove the header and put in my little end piece and reinstall the header back up and that might provide enough pressure to close the gap. i know its alittle redneck, but i dont see the point of paying $400 to get the bolt removed if im gonna swap heads here in about august-september next year, what do u guys think? or any other suggestions?
Last edited by blown90camaro; Dec 17, 2009 at 09:21 PM.
What kind of gaskets are you using right now? If it's the paper gaskets that's probably your actual problem. Go to a dealership and pick up a set of AcDelco metal exhaust gaskets. I've personally seen several cars with missing, miss matched, or broken bolts that don't leak with the stock gaskets. Even on the ends.
Try some Permatex Ultra Copper, don't use anything else, between the gaskets and header and head. Once you put it back together, start it, let it idle (dont' rev it up) for about 3 minutes and then let it sit for about 4 hours before driving it. Pontiacs are a real PITA to change the gaskets and I discovered this one day and went from changing them every 2 months to about once year.
Launching!
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 268
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Forget it either fix the broken bolt or live with the leak till you swap out the heads. Nothing is going to stop a header leak with a bolt missing. Especially at the end of the head. I sometimes break those bolts in the shop and its a real problem for shure.
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Teching In
Joined: Jan 2010
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If you have access to a welder, you can weld a nut on the broken bolt, even if it is flush or slightly counter sunk into the cylinder head. Then you just put a wrench on the nut and unscrew it. Make sure you weld on the inside of the nut, not the outside.
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