Missing header bolt - potentially damaging?

[DamnYankee]

Well I've been hearing my headers leak for a while now and finally got under the hood to tighten down the bolts, thinking that would fix everything. Well they were all pretty tight, but when I got to the last one - the back one on the drivers side - the bolt isn't there. I get my mirror and in actuality the BOLT is there, but the head is gone. It's in a difficult spot to just tap and remove, so I'm wondering if I'm in danger of blowing the gasket out or if it will affect the truck performance wise or in any other way?

[Red03SilSS]

How in the hell did the head get broken off!!??

[misterp]

Yup it must be fixed. The gasket is already gone, and pray that's the only problem. Ususally when a gasket is blown like that and allowed to leak for any significant amount of time the escaping hot gasses eat away the metal + warp the surfaces. You will need to at least replace the gasket, and while the header is down remove what's left of the stud/bolt. At worst, if time proves that the header will no longer hold a gasket (continues blowing out that rear corner) then you will need to have both the head exhaust flange and header exhaust flange resurfaced true. As a stop-gap, I have used a header gasket coated on both sides with copper hi-temp permatex and it did hold, but I would not recommend that on a FI motor.

Mr. P.

[TXsilverado]

do you see any leaks around that broken bolt? if not i would just leave it be. ive heard of bolts breaking and not having leaking issues.

[RedHeartbeat]

The bolts they use in the trucks suck. They're not coated and rust/corrode. The Fbody engines have coated bolts and I've never had problems with them. Sorry to hear the bad news Bro. That bolt is in the worst place to try to remove. I take a nut close to the same size and try to mig/tig the remaining stud to the nut by welding through the nut. It spatters a little aluminum but it heats the stud up and helps to remove it.

[DamnYankee]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Red03SilSS &#064; Jan 23 2007, 02&#58;19 PM) [snapback]80893[/snapback]</div>

How in the hell did the head get broken off&#33;&#33;??
[/b]

I don&#39;t know to be honest. Maybe during the install, but I think Billy would have said something. Or he DID say something and I don&#39;t remember.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedHeartbeat &#064; Jan 23 2007, 03&#58;03 PM) [snapback]80903[/snapback]</div>

The bolts they use in the trucks suck. They&#39;re not coated and rust/corrode. The Fbody engines have coated bolts and I&#39;ve never had problems with them. Sorry to hear the bad news Bro. That bolt is in the worst place to try to remove. I take a nut close to the same size and try to mig/tig the remaining stud to the nut by welding through the nut. It spatters a little aluminum but it heats the stud up and helps to remove it.
[/b]

From what I could see with the inspection mirror, it&#39;s broke off below the head, so I don&#39;t know if welding a nut on would be an option or not. I DO know I don&#39;t have the tools to do it which means paying someone which means yet another expense. So where would I get ahold of some bolts that wouldn&#39;t corrode?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TXsilverado &#064; Jan 23 2007, 02&#58;45 PM) [snapback]80899[/snapback]</div>

do you see any leaks around that broken bolt? if not i would just leave it be. ive heard of bolts breaking and not having leaking issues.
[/b]

I was kind of in a rush when I was looking at it, so I&#39;m not positive. I&#39;ll have to look at it a little closer when I get back in town. I can still hear an exhaust leak though so I would think if I left it it would eventually mess up the gasket...

[RedHeartbeat]

ARP or buy bolts for an fbody LS1. They have 10mm heads but work just fine. Be sure to put some anti-seize on them when you install them just for safety&#39;s sake.

[DamnYankee]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedHeartbeat &#064; Jan 23 2007, 03&#58;15 PM) [snapback]80908[/snapback]</div>

ARP or buy bolts for an fbody LS1. They have 10mm heads but work just fine. Be sure to put some anti-seize on them when you install them just for safety&#39;s sake.
[/b]

Surely I&#39;m looking at the wrong ones...

? Any of These ?

I&#39;m not seeing any 10mm on ARP either.

[RedHeartbeat]

The threads are 8mm and the head is 10mm on the LS1 bolt.

the ARP stud kit is 434-1301 and can be bought from Jegs or Summit with free shipping in two days.

[goodie454]

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...?part=STG-8900

try these they shouldn&#39;t back out at all either