ExceSSive

iTrader: (13)

Well the head and cam swap was right on schedule... :wooo:







until this!!! @#$%^$%







Yes that is a new cylinder head bolt going on the passenger side, snapped at just over 22 lb/ft. It took us better than 3 hours and $80.00 in new tools (and prayer) to get it out of the block. New ARP bolts will be overnighted tomorrow. I can't believe this #$%$% !!!

1QuickT-A

iTrader: (12)

I feel your pain bro! Its always something when messin with hot rods.. Better get used to it real quick! lol

GMCVT

iTrader: (1)

Man, hate to hear that. Hope everything goes better from this point.

Wet 1

iTrader: (4)

It broke @ <25 ft/lb. ???

Something doesn't sound right!

Ryan02SS

iTrader: (3)

Most likely from coolant still pooling in the holes. Coolant and water will not compress and when you torque a bolt like above with coolant in the hole a broken bolt will result. Use every available means from shop towels to a vaccum cleaner to extract the coolant. This is one of the most important things when doing a heads swap.

Silver-Dollar

iTrader: (1)

Probably bad carma from using your kids Finding Nemo towel.

ExceSSive

iTrader: (13)

You could be right but we used a wet dry vac, and air compressor on the bolt holes to make sure there was nothing in them, or so we thought. It was bolt #3...

We had torqued all the bolts to 22 ft/lbs and this one broke on the second pass when you are supposed to do a 90* turn. Then on the third pass there was no torque on it what so ever.

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

Sorry about the bad luck man!! I hope the new bolts go in smoothly and you'll have the car running in no time!

I have the same cam as you, although mine is a 112 LSA. Thanks for the picture, I never got to see mine coz I never had taken it out of the box before dropping the car off at my friends house, and he had it already installed by the time I got off work.

Have fun with it! I know I enjoy mine

Z06-Dave

I'm installing my AFRs on Thursday, I just bought a set of the OEM bolts, now I'm going to order a set of the ARP's to use instead. Can I ask where you got them?

Dave

Dixit

iTrader: (1)

SDPC is where I got mine. Dont think you will find them cheaper.

Another reason I did not want to deal with the stock torque to stretch bolts.

Dixit

DONAIMIAN

iTrader: (18)

look on the bright side, you did get it out of the block.

JZ'sTA

iTrader: (23)

Thats for damn sure.
I haven't had this problem yet and hopefully I wont.
Right choice by ordering ARP's.
Good luck.

Dixit

iTrader: (1)

When I did my head swap two weeks ago, I thought for sure I was going to snap the GM head bolt when removing it. It was hard on the removal all the way to the end. I could actually see the head twisting and the bolt was not. I was PRAYING that it did not snap. I have the extrator bits and stuff, but I was sitting here thinking there is no way in hell that extractor bit tool is going to have enough torque to remove that bolt if here I am got a 2' extension on my 1/2" wrench.

I give you alot of props for pulling that broken stud out. Now I actually want to know what you used to get it out? Did you just put the extractor bit in the stud and then just hookup a socket to the end of it instead of using the tool it hooks up with?

Dixit

ExceSSive

iTrader: (13)

I ordered mine from Thunder Racing. They offer military discount and overnight delivery.

The OEM bolts came with the heads from the shop I purchased them from. I will never make that mistake again...quality bolts all the way from now on. I paid the price for being a cheap bastard...

You know it...

Well I have to give credit to the Shop helping me do the swap. Wide Open Throttle performance is helping me do it. I am using their garage, most of their tools and their extra hands. What we ended up using was a screw extractor from Ace Hardware.

We turned it with a 1/4" socket on a 2" ext. with a small ratchet. We had to first drill to flatten the top of the bolt then drill a hole down the center of the bolt. Then use the screw extractor to get a bite on it and twist it out. Then it took lots of patience and prayer. One of the guys at the shop wanted to just thread the block and use a shorter bolt. I wanted to try and get that bolt for a while before I resorted to something like that. Mark there at the shop did most of the work getting that out. I bought the tools to do it.

bowtieman81

iTrader: (35)

Is there some sort of issue with GM headbolts ? It seems that some of them break for no apparent reason. Asking because I am about to bolt my heads on and have GM bolts

Dixit

iTrader: (1)

Id highly suggest ARP bolts mainly because they are re-usable and will not snap like the torque to stretch GM head bolts. I think you are talking about $65 more in cost, but in the end worth every penny.

They break because once they are torqued to stretch, you have really compromised the tensile strength on the bolts and it doesnt take too much to snap them, even on removing them.

Dixit

ExceSSive

iTrader: (13)

I don't know if there is a quality problem or not. All I know is that bolt broke without any warning that it was going to happen. If you are installing head bolts...I would use a quality bolt. I considered it for 2 months before I decided I did not need the ARP bolts and I could have had my car done yesterday now I won't be able to work on it until Thursday.

99SS-T

iTrader: (5)

That is AMAZING that yall got that piece of bolt outta there. those things are WAY in there. From the look of the bolt i would say that it was bolt failure and not aomethign stopping it. Usually when i break a bolt ti shears off clean. That thing is nasty. Also i never seen a bolt break halfway through the threads. Always after the threads in teh neck of the bolt. GL man


John

ExceSSive

iTrader: (13)

I think it was defective but who knows...

ExceSSive

iTrader: (13)

This is the light we used.




I forgot to mention that we used a bil-lite to look down the hole to inspect frequently during the 3 hour process. I wish I had the fiber optic option though.

This is the light accessory I wish I had used.