I was reading on ls1howto, and it sudgests putting locktight on the rocker arm bolts if your heads are ported and polished. Any truth to this?

 

Yes it is true ..

 

ah, not. you need to use thread sealer if the heads are ported and expose the intake rocker bolt hole inside the runner. otherwise you could end up injesting oil, or vac. leaks.

 

Loctite will seal the threads. Just make sure you clean the bolts and the heads before using it or it will not help at all.

 

and this is only if the rocker bolt breaks into the runner?

 

Yes; no need to put it on the exhaust rocker bolts, just intake side. I used loctite thread sealer (looks green), or you can use permatex thread sealer.

 

loctite will NOT work on rocker bolts... trust me... ive gone through this problem 6 times now...


the only thing that works so far is indian head shellac compound.. its a thread sealer and worked perfectly on my engine.. i tried blue locktite, red locktite, RTV, mix of blue/rtv, mix of red/rtv.... hahah nothing worked except the shellac

 

Loctite PST thread sealer works real well on rocker arm bolts. Used it on my Z/28, and it worked great.

Bruce

 

The loctite sealed mine up fine, but the threads in both the head and the bolt must be perfectly clean. Second time use in the same threads, Permatex also recommends the use of another pretreatment on the threads.

 

i would agree with that. but the chances of getting all the oil out of the threads arent so great. the shellac compound was referred to me by a few very well known engine builders. you put it on both surfaces and let it dry, then put the bolt in and it bonds to itself and seals permanently.

with loctite it definately worked on some of the bolts... but certain cylinders were still getting oily when i took my manifold off. Manifold is now bone dry now that i used the shellac compound.

 

Its funny you should mention this, my dad used it a lot and I have an old old bottle of it in my shop. Not sure too many people use it anymore. Also not too many people properly prepare the threads for loctite either for that matter.

 

haha very true napa carries the shellac btw. works super well and is pretty much dummy proof

 

Loctite has worked well for me.

 

well I always use normal, paste pipe thread sealer. no tricks to it. spray bolts clean with parts cleaner, smear thread sealer on bolts, install. done.

 

ARP makes THREAD SEALER, for this application.Its in the ARP catalog.Use it on the intake bolts ,if the heads are ported.