Phantom Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 I've found that I have to retighten the exhaust header bolts and all the hose clamps routinely. Does anyone else experience this? Good news is that I don't have any coolant or exhaust leaks! I still need to get the car up off the ground and go through the undercarraige and check out all the suspension and drive train components to ensure they aren't working loose too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas28O Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Drill a hole in the bolt and connect the bolts using a small wire. This is used on airplanes. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted December 4, 2003 Author Share Posted December 4, 2003 Yup, I even have the safety wire and the safety wire pliers from my naval aviator days. I think I'll try torquing a few more times before I resort to that though. It would be a huge amount of work on this engine to have to pull all the bolts to drill them. One of them is now behind my oil dipstick tube so I'd first have to pull the strut tower brace and then bend the tube out of the way to get the bolt all the way out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Why didn't you just use those self-locking bolts for headers? Those are supposed to help a lot from what I have read. Im going to be using them on my new headers when I install them. I dont know what you can do about the hose clamps though? I haven';re really ever heard of that being a problem. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 If you buy new bolts from GM, they come coated with a threadlock compound. It may also have some anti-corrosion properties as well - I dunno. At any rate, I used lock washers on my exhaust manifold bolts as well as a bit of anti-seize on the threads. I've not noticed this problem on my setup. I did have a hose clamp come loose and cause a leak. I'm not sure what to do about that. As you probably know, it's sometimes hard to know if the problem is the bolt actually loosening, or stretching, or gasket or other materials compressing/contracting. In other words, the bolt could be locked in place with thread compound, but still require re-torquing after some time. For my drivetrain stuff, I have lock washers on both ends and thread compound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Barry Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Many years ago I installed a set of header bolt lock washers on two sets of vehicles that, to this day, still remain leak-free. I forgot who makes them, but the washers are actually anodized aluminum, cut in a half-moon shape, with a hexagonal hole in the middle. The washer actually fits OVER the header bolt head (thus the hex hole) and is held in place by a C-clip. The half-moon shape hugs the header pipe and together the whole assembly keeps the header bolt from turning. I did a quick internet search just now, but couldn't find the same parts I'd used. However, I did see a product that uses a similar idea at http://www.stage8.com. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmyntti Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 I have seen the setup you are talking about in the summit catalog. I plan on using this with my engine. If you want to lockwire (safety wire) the bolts you can buy predrilled bolts from McMaster Carr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zfan Posted December 6, 2003 Share Posted December 6, 2003 When I used block hugger headers I always had the same problem but for some reason long tubes don't. Go figure. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GCH Posted December 8, 2003 Share Posted December 8, 2003 Retorque your header bolts when your engine is hot. DON'T OVER TORQUE!!! If you retorque when it's hot,(not easy to do) you can rule out bolt stretch. Be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoorenc Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 They are "STAGE 8" bolts. I just ordered a set for my JTR headers. The bolts that came with the headers rusted so quickly. Here is the LINK to the Stage 8 header bolts for the LS1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUNNY Z Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 A quick side note - don't buy new bolts for the headers that are not the tapered (stock) style. This is because the tapered end of the bolt actually sits in the drilled hole in the head, past where the threads are cut. A friend ran into some issues with these when he tried to do stainless hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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