ive got bbk shorties on my car and had an exhaust leak so i got some new felpro lt1 gaskets. on the shorties there is 2 bolt holes on each end of the flange but my gaskets only have one on each end... should i put a hole in the gaskets and push bolts threw there or should i leave those 2 bolts out and not cut holes in the gasket? i dont know which idea will work better?


picture of headers

random thought: the bolts that go into the heads are really small and it would seem that its easy to strip out the threads in the head. why didnt they use a bigger diameter bolt hole and could you possibly have a machine shop make them a bolt size bigger?

 

I would leave those extra 2 bolts out...you have some wierdo headers lol. "Normal" headers only have one bolt on the outside of the primaries.

 

LMAO!

The stock manifolds use the inner holes, most aftermarket headers use the outer holes. Lucky for you, bbk gives you an option - no need to use both but ideally the inner holes will seal better...in theory

 

Don't go overboard on tightening the header bolts and the threads in the head will be fine.

 

Secret to not stripping out header bolt threads is to hand tighten the bolts as much as possible before putting a wrench to them. Because it's awkward to put headers in and start a bolt most start using tools the second they catch a bolt by half a thread.
Best way to go about it is to put a bolt in that is easy access with header minus the gasket to get it into position. Then screw in the most front and rear bolts into holes, take out bolt used to hang headers, put header gasket on (most aftermarket gaskets will have a slot instead of hole just for this reason,and if not, slot them yourself) and then screw in the remaining. Torque from the inside out.

 

alright thanks for the help ppl. now i just gotta rig up some way of keeping my exhaust from hitting my driveshaft tunnel brace thingy. everytime the engine shakes it hits it and makes a bang inside the car.. annoying as hell lol ... of course the middle exhaust support was left off of the car by the idiot that rebuilt the engine... time to build one i guess

 

If you're talking about that steel plate GM bolted to the floor, just take it off, it doesn't do much anyways. My Lakewood driveshaft loop bolts to the floor were that brace used to be.