BROKEN Header Bolt ....
well with the motor out of the car deff more room to work with, esp being on the pass side. and its about the same time to drop/lift the motor than to take heads off in my case. and its prob saving him some money on head gaskets and what not.
Exactle what I was thinking, No need for a oil change coolant etc.
TECH Regular
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 458
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From: Bellaire, TX
I would not leave it. I had a header bolt brake off aswell on the drivers side. There was about a 1/4" inch of the bolt sticking out. I tried using visegrips with no luck, so i went down to Sears and got a "stud/bolt" remover. You hammer the stud remover onto the stud or broken bolt and wrench it out. It worked great, the broken bolt cam right out. Now if the bolt is broken off in the head, I would drill it out and retap the threads.
But don't go back with 5 bolts.
But don't go back with 5 bolts.
hey you know what? i was sick of dealing with it,if thats how he wants to do the job and can do it better like that then thats fine with me. Ill be happy when I get the car back. Plus he said its gonna save me $ on materials
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 190
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From: Fort Worth , TX
Oh I see senicalj4579 .... I hear ya . Joecar it is my second from the front bolt on the driver side .... I broke it putting them on .... Bolt looked a lil sideways when putting it in but I thought maybe it was just me thinking that but headers must have been pushing it to the side .... Even though I have all the others finger tightened in .... I took it out and put it back in a few times and thought it was just me maybe not but ended up snapping as I tightened it down .... Sucks but hopefully I can get it out with out removing the head .... or motor .... lol
Oh I see senicalj4579 .... I hear ya . Joecar it is my second from the front bolt on the driver side .... I broke it putting them on .... Bolt looked a lil sideways when putting it in but I thought maybe it was just me thinking that but headers must have been pushing it to the side .... Even though I have all the others finger tightened in .... I took it out and put it back in a few times and thought it was just me maybe not but ended up snapping as I tightened it down .... Sucks but hopefully I can get it out with out removing the head .... or motor .... lol
I'm gonna angle drill it out one day. 
Launching!
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 201
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From: Walterboro SC
When I did my header swap, the back bolt on the drivers side was broke. I took the bolts out of the driverside I had to go back and look at the passenger side because it seemed like I took more out on the passenger side. When I pulled the manifold the rest of the bolt was sticking out, looks like it broke at the head of the bolt. Had the car since 18k miles and it had like 128k on it when I did the header swaps, and no one has ever worked on the car but me and the tranny shop so it had to have been there since atleast when I got it at 18k. I figured if it didnt leak after 110k miles I would be fine. Still no leak, like 1k miles later. I used the gaskets that came with the headers because they were thicker than the stock, just to help some.
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I'm in the process of doing motor mounts and installing Long Tubes on my 00 WS6. The car is 100% original, down to the OEM Plug wires, plugs and clutch ( with 90k on the clock )
The furthest back header bolt on the drivers side was snapped off from the factory. I bought the car from the original owner and he has never had the car in for any repairs.
Anyways, im joining the club.. Lucky me
The furthest back header bolt on the drivers side was snapped off from the factory. I bought the car from the original owner and he has never had the car in for any repairs.
Anyways, im joining the club.. Lucky me
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 17
From: So.Cal.
Some people have made themselves a template out of a thick steel or aluminum plate (i.e. with a few holes to match up with the bolt holes on the head)... thick enough to help guide the drill bit true/straight...
the template is bolted to the nearby by bolt holes, the hole over the broken bolt helps to keep the drill bit true and protects the surrounding head should you slip.
if you have enough room for a right-angle drill.
the template is bolted to the nearby by bolt holes, the hole over the broken bolt helps to keep the drill bit true and protects the surrounding head should you slip.
if you have enough room for a right-angle drill.
Same thing happened to me when I installed my headers about a year and a half ago. It was the bolt closest to the firewall on the drivers side. Tried and tried to get it out, unsuccessfully. Ended up bolting everything up and seeing if it would leak. To this day it still hasn't. I'm not gonna mess with it until I need to pull the heads for another reason. I suppose the super thick flange on the AR headers is a factor.
When I did my header swap, the back bolt on the drivers side was broke. I took the bolts out of the driverside I had to go back and look at the passenger side because it seemed like I took more out on the passenger side. When I pulled the manifold the rest of the bolt was sticking out, looks like it broke at the head of the bolt. Had the car since 18k miles and it had like 128k on it when I did the header swaps, and no one has ever worked on the car but me and the tranny shop so it had to have been there since atleast when I got it at 18k. I figured if it didnt leak after 110k miles I would be fine. Still no leak, like 1k miles later. I used the gaskets that came with the headers because they were thicker than the stock, just to help some.
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 504
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Some people have made themselves a template out of a thick steel or aluminum plate (i.e. with a few holes to match up with the bolt holes on the head)... thick enough to help guide the drill bit true/straight...
the template is bolted to the nearby by bolt holes, the hole over the broken bolt helps to keep the drill bit true and protects the surrounding head should you slip.
if you have enough room for a right-angle drill.
the template is bolted to the nearby by bolt holes, the hole over the broken bolt helps to keep the drill bit true and protects the surrounding head should you slip.
if you have enough room for a right-angle drill.
damn, 7 years old thread. blowing the dust off of this one lol. I havnt experienced a broken header bolt on these engines yet but I did on my hemi when I swapped my headers on my truck. tried drilling it, that ended not good but not bad. the bolt hole is f-d. but I put my headers on and swapped stock manifolds back on both without a leak on the hemi. I just tightened the **** out of the bolts around the broken bolt to the point where it felt I was going to rip the threads out of the head. not the best way but saves a head change.
a buddy told me later that if there is even a tiny bit of the bolt sticking out or not too far in the hole, you can weld a nut on the inside to the broken bolt with a mig welded and then loosen the bolt up that way. just an idea.
a buddy told me later that if there is even a tiny bit of the bolt sticking out or not too far in the hole, you can weld a nut on the inside to the broken bolt with a mig welded and then loosen the bolt up that way. just an idea.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 17
From: So.Cal.
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Joined: Oct 2016
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From: PDX-OR-USA
I use a left handed tungsten drill bit about 1/2 the diameter of the broken bolt/stud and a cordless right angle drill.
The left handed bit walks the broken stud out about 80% of the time,
if the stud does not come out on its own, I apply heat and then use a can of cold shot circuit tester spray down the hole in the bolt, then use the next size up left hand bit and drill it again, so far haven't had to try anything else.. I have a set of the self drilling collet bolt removers but I figured out that since they usually spin the bolt out before the collet even gets to the bolt that the left handed bits are cheaper
Oh and I use a small grinding bur for a dremel to make a small divit in the end of the bolt to get things started.
The left handed bit walks the broken stud out about 80% of the time,
if the stud does not come out on its own, I apply heat and then use a can of cold shot circuit tester spray down the hole in the bolt, then use the next size up left hand bit and drill it again, so far haven't had to try anything else.. I have a set of the self drilling collet bolt removers but I figured out that since they usually spin the bolt out before the collet even gets to the bolt that the left handed bits are cheaper
Oh and I use a small grinding bur for a dremel to make a small divit in the end of the bolt to get things started. 
Holy old thread....
I snapped the passenger side rearmost bolt last summer during my install. Really kick myself for it too, because I think it was a dumb error on my part.
Anyway, I discovered Dorman 917-142. It's a kickass clamp that is completely worth the $26 on Amazon. Very beefy design. Been working well for me!
Dorman also has another P/N that wraps around the side of the head - kind of a triangular piece that wraps around the back/front of the head if it's one of the end bolts that snapped. I used the one I listed on the rear side and it fit perfectly, so I see no need for the other design.
I snapped the passenger side rearmost bolt last summer during my install. Really kick myself for it too, because I think it was a dumb error on my part.
Anyway, I discovered Dorman 917-142. It's a kickass clamp that is completely worth the $26 on Amazon. Very beefy design. Been working well for me!
Dorman also has another P/N that wraps around the side of the head - kind of a triangular piece that wraps around the back/front of the head if it's one of the end bolts that snapped. I used the one I listed on the rear side and it fit perfectly, so I see no need for the other design.
You can take the heads off on the car. Check LS1HowTo.com. but TBH would be much easier to drop the engine, then again it would be much easier to do it at a shop but you work with what ya got ya know?
what? Have you ever dropped n engine vs pulling the heads? It's not even comparable heads can be done in a fraction of the time
