Cleaning head bolt holes
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Cleaning head bolt holes Crap! I threw out my head bolts as I was tidying up the garage floor last night, forgetting that I needed them to shave off some threads and clean the bolt holes. That's what I get for working late (to me, which is 930) on motor mounts.
What else can I do to get gunk out of the holes? I know to use paper towels or whatever for the coolant, so I'm just asking about the old thread locker that'll be inside the holes.
What else can I do to get gunk out of the holes? I know to use paper towels or whatever for the coolant, so I'm just asking about the old thread locker that'll be inside the holes.
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I saw that on ls1howto, but I've read that it doesn't really work that well. I'm not sure how much stuff is actually in the holes, so hopefully it's not a big deal.
There are tons of stuff in the holes if factory bolts were used. You absolutely need to at minimum, use a factory bolt with the side ground off. But the arp chasers will work better.
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Staging Lane
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From: Montana
I have used the old factory bolts many times now. I hit the bolts with my bench grinder so they resemble a tap, I have found they clean and collect the junk/old thread locker pretty well. Usually 2 passes and the holes are clean. You can even put a very small amount of wd-40 on the grinded down area of the bolt to help get that grit & crud to stick.
Has worked well for me for the last couple of head changes I have performed over the years.
Has worked well for me for the last couple of head changes I have performed over the years.
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From: Kansas City, MO
This is the route I'm taking. I'll start with paper towels, shaved bolt from Home Depot with some WD40 a couple times, paper towels again. I'll inspect the first several holes with a flashlight and if there's stuff at the bottom, I'll rig up something with my shop vac. If that still isn't enough, I'll borrow a compressor and try to blast whatever is in there with some air.
I appreciate all the input. Hopefully I'm about done with questions and can get this thing buttoned up this weekend and ready for a new tune.
For anyone interested, I'm doing this to compliment my Torquer 3 cam:
-PRC As-Cast 225 Heads
-Fast 102/NW 102 tb
-36lb injectors with FAST rail kit
-LS6 valley cover
-Morel 5315 lifters
-New Pushrods (will be checking with a checker and factory rockers)
-Homemade 102 MAF and Fast Toys 104mm lid
-TSP 1-7/8" headers and ORY (up from my Pacesetter 1-3/4" and ORY)
-Poly motor mounts created by satan himself
So soon I'll be selling some low mile take-offs, including my LS6 intake/tb/fuel rails/injectors, 241 heads with PAC dual springs, 7.4" tsp pushrods, etc.
I appreciate all the input. Hopefully I'm about done with questions and can get this thing buttoned up this weekend and ready for a new tune.
For anyone interested, I'm doing this to compliment my Torquer 3 cam:
-PRC As-Cast 225 Heads
-Fast 102/NW 102 tb
-36lb injectors with FAST rail kit
-LS6 valley cover
-Morel 5315 lifters
-New Pushrods (will be checking with a checker and factory rockers)
-Homemade 102 MAF and Fast Toys 104mm lid
-TSP 1-7/8" headers and ORY (up from my Pacesetter 1-3/4" and ORY)
-Poly motor mounts created by satan himself
So soon I'll be selling some low mile take-offs, including my LS6 intake/tb/fuel rails/injectors, 241 heads with PAC dual springs, 7.4" tsp pushrods, etc.
Last edited by BREWS02WS6; Feb 24, 2016 at 10:36 AM. Reason: listing mods
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Get on amazon and get the ARP chaser. Well worth it, and if you buy both sizes, the M8x1.25 can be used on the water pump, timing cover, etc.. all over the place.
I did it with a shaved bolt, and then used the ARP chaser to see how much more it got. No comparison, the thread chasers are expensive, but well worth it.
I did it with a shaved bolt, and then used the ARP chaser to see how much more it got. No comparison, the thread chasers are expensive, but well worth it.
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Get on amazon and get the ARP chaser. Well worth it, and if you buy both sizes, the M8x1.25 can be used on the water pump, timing cover, etc.. all over the place.
I did it with a shaved bolt, and then used the ARP chaser to see how much more it got. No comparison, the thread chasers are expensive, but well worth it.
I did it with a shaved bolt, and then used the ARP chaser to see how much more it got. No comparison, the thread chasers are expensive, but well worth it.
PS - just saw your build thread from your sig and am on the first couple pages. I'm looking at painting valve covers, too...so I'm hoping there's more info from you in there about it.
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I'm sure the bolt method is OK, a lot of people have done it like that. I just prefer to chase them with the ARP tool.
Painting wasn't hard at all. I got a wire wheel for my drill, and scuffed them really good. Then I cleaned them with carb cleaner, and scuffed and cleaned again. A few coats of primer, and a few coats of paint -- The look pretty good. I followed a stupid youtube video for the crinkle paint, but if you follow the can you will have better results.
Painting wasn't hard at all. I got a wire wheel for my drill, and scuffed them really good. Then I cleaned them with carb cleaner, and scuffed and cleaned again. A few coats of primer, and a few coats of paint -- The look pretty good. I followed a stupid youtube video for the crinkle paint, but if you follow the can you will have better results.
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I'm on page 16 of your thread. Paint looked great on the valve covers! My dad knows a powder coating guy so he's asking about pricing for flat black at the moment.
Sending you a PM.
Sending you a PM.
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What I ended up doing was a combo of several things. I started by spraying brake cleaner in the holes then putting a rag around a skinny spray nozzle on the air compressor to blow out the holes. After the first hole I put on my safety glasses haha! That must have cleaned them pretty good because the bolt I ground down on 3 edges barely had anything on it. Ran it down twice on each hole, cleaned after each time. Last step was rolled up paper towels to get down at the very bottom of the holes. Most were already dry, but a few had oil/brake cleaner still.
Surprisingly, this wasn't a painful process and didn't take all that long. Maybe an hour?
Surprisingly, this wasn't a painful process and didn't take all that long. Maybe an hour?