All - I must admit I'm self concious of bringing this topic up as I know it has been discussed to death in the archives, and I have been perusing the archives looking for info..........nonetheless...here goes...

- The header bolts that come with the BBK's, or for any header that matter, seem awfully short in that they do not use but may 1 /3 of the thread depth in the heads. Is this cause for concern?

- The factory bolts use several double ended studs like the lifting point on the LH forward side. and the uppr manifold support on the RH side. I want to retain these items. I know getting bolts from lowes and HD is generally ill advised, but if you can get grade 8 stainless from these sources (ACE?) is this acceptable. Does Napa carry Dorman? Can you modify the stage 8 locking to work on the double-ended studs?

- Anti-seize, I've seen a lots of post about Loctite on header bolts, which really doesn't seem like the best solution to me. Aerospace has used Nickel never-seize for decades, I think I've seen a high-nickel content anti-seize on the napa site. has anyone used a nickel type never seize for the header bolts (head bolts too). results? Alternatively I see some Copper based never seize compounds out there too. anyone tried this?

Thanks in advance.......

 

get a 1" allen head header bolt. as for what to use on them or what metal type ive wondered this as well.

 

Nickel never seize is for really high temperatures, but remember the threads will be in the heads which won't be much above the coolant temperature. I just use a bit of oil on my header bolts and they don't back out. I use regular Allen head cap screws that engage about a half inch of thread in the head. It's not good to have too little engagement, you risk damaging the head threads.
Ordinary SS bolts have two lines on their heads, which seems to indicate they are lower strength than grade 5 steel bolts, which have three lines. I am not aware of any grade 8 ss fasteners, although ARP and some other specialty suppliers might have high strength ss bolts.

Bolt suppliers will generally supply from whatever importer is cheapest that day (ie. China or Taiwan), but you can get Holokrome or Unbrako brands, and others if you try hard and are persistent. They are US made, as is of course ARP.

For an extremely in depth discussion of the technical aspects of bolt design and manufacture check out ARP's website. It's very interesting.

 

as far as using engine oil...that didn't work for me. I had all my exhaust manifold bolts out at 2K miles. used engine oil when they went back in, 175K miles later, 4 bolts broke and the rest were rusted. I think I'm gonna try the nickel never seize, both for the header bolts and the head bolts.

Good info about the ARP site. I'll give it a look.

Regards