black_z

iTrader: (4)

I am getting my car out of storage on friday and will be installing my pacesetter LT's on Saturday. My question is; should I let the car sit and cool down before I start the job and spray the **** out of the bolts with WD-40, or do it while everything is still warm? The car will be up on a lift. Will the bolts come out easier if everything is warm? I think they would, but im not sure. Thanks.

waterbug1999

iTrader: (3)

I did all of mine while it was cold(the next day). Have any questions feel free to ask. I did mine all alone in my garage with basic tools.

ls1rocker

iTrader: (7)

me and FatZ28 did mine in my garage on some ramps, i put it up in the afternoon and we started in the evening, worked for like 3 hours and got the drivers side and all the exhaust off (with help from the good ol sawsaw), then started again the next morning, so i d say work with a cool to cold engine, and i would for sure use the WD 40 on the manifold to cat bolts, those were a bitch

waterbug1999

iTrader: (3)

Yea, my cat bolts, i broke 4 out of the 6.

black_z

iTrader: (4)

Im more concerned with the bolts that hold the manifolds on. Any other opinions?

waterbug1999

iTrader: (3)

They came off easy (passenger side is a tight space) but no problems.

slik98z

i have the same fear about the manifold to head bolts. A buddy of mine stripped 3 bolts outof his heads when doing a header install. Would an air ratchet help keep from doing such damage? Im very worried about the aluminum heads cause i dont have teh money to replace them or fix them if somethingl ike that happened

FatZ28

iTrader: (1)

Yeah 10 mm ratchet wrench was a good tool to have.

foff667

iTrader: (2)

most of the manifold to head bolt i got off with my air rachet...i think 3 or 4 tops i had to use a gear wrench...most have problems putting them back in not taking them out...if you really wanna be careful run a tap in the threads and youll notice theyve got like thread lock on them and that crap can harden inside the bolt holes and run the new bolts off course...hope this helped.

lata
Bill

ls1rocker

iTrader: (7)

i didnt have any problems at all with the manifold bolts, came right out as soon as i could get a socket or a wrench on em, thats the hard part actually gettin to some of em

QUIK WS6

Im going to reuse my stock bolts is it a good idea to use blue or red locktite, or nothing at all?

cm02WS6

Actually, you should use a little antiseize on them.

1RawTA

iTrader: (1)

for me an air ratchet came in handy, i sprayed the bolts with wd-40 a couple hours before the install, i broke them loose with a ratceht and then took them out with the air tool, the bolts came out quite easily. but maybe becuase mine only has 30k miles on it

foff667

iTrader: (2)

i had little problem w/ my 98 w/ 65K on the clock

slik98z

i have~45k on my 98 z28. Im gonna use whatever they have at the shop to make this install as easy as possible. Luckily i have a mechanic with some experience, (not with ls1's though), installign long tube headers. whats the torque rating to pop these bitches off and on? 18 lbs ? I have a week till the headers get here so i should have some time to put teh car up on a lift and take a good hard look at everything involved. Im usually very thorough wiht my installations, i like to know whats ahead of me, Foffgg7 thats a great installation guide.

black_z

iTrader: (4)

Ya what is the torque spec for the header bolts?

FatZ28

iTrader: (1)

Start from the center and do 11lbs first then 18lbs.

slik98z

sweet thanks for the info

c5blkvette

I work at Loctite as an Engineer. I would recommend using Loctite 242 or 243 (blue) on the threads. I would not recommend antiseize (not a sales pitch as we have a full range of antiseize products). Antiseize products have very high lubricity and it is VERY easy to over tighten the bolts and strip the threads. This is because most of the force used to torque a bolt is taken up by friction and only a small proportion goes into applying a clamp load (stretching the bolt).

eg. A 10 bolt flange may require a clamping load of 200lb to maintain a seal (20lb load /bolt). This may be achieved by tightening the bolts down to 15lbf (tight...by my spanner). If I use the same torque on a bolt with Antiseize, I will be loading the bolts to around 1.7 times the required clamp load (34lb load/bolt). The bolt can generally handle the extra stress, its the aluminum threads in the head that will give first.

Jamie

slik98z

my worry isn't with putting the bolts back in but taking them out. thats where i've seen problems in the past with cast iron heads. And i could only guess that the aluminum heads would be even softer than cast iron.

who has had problems with bolts stripping out while taking off the stock manifolds?