BBK Shorties Bolts.

[Brown_Muscle]

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Quick question for those guys who have installed BBK shorty headers. How did you tighten the manifold bolts. The ones they came with are 3/8", and i only have a small 12-point wrench to tighten them with. I can't even get a 1/4 socket and extension on some of them! I was going to go buy a beefier 6-point 3/8" wrench and put a small pipe on it to try to get the annoying leaks to stop, however i'm not even sure that will be enough torque. any tips/tricks?

[marquisman]

weird. i ran the BBKs on gmgt all summer and did not have any loose fasteners yet. what gaskets did you use and was the surface on the head cleaned up good?

[Brown_Muscle]

The problem isn't that they are loosening, it's more that i can't tighten them enough to squish the gasket. I used mr gasket ultraseal. The heads were as clean as i could get them really. I just need to somehow apply more torque to them.

[gadget73]

I'd be tempted to toss those bolts in favor of socket key cap screws, aka allen head bolts. Use a rounded head allen key so you can get some angle on it, and you ought to be good to go with it. McMaster-Carr sells the bolts for fairly cheap. I think its 3/8-NC, 1 inch long. Pull one of your bolts to confirm though.

[1987cp]

Interesting that those bolts are stock BBK; I'd assumed the ones I got with the "POS" were obtained separately from ARP by torquelover. Flange bolts on aftermarket headers/manifolds seem to be teh suck no matter how you do it! One thing I REALLY like about stock HO manifolds is that you can use a normal Grade 8 bolt with a 9/16" head and not care because you can easily get a normal socket on every single one.

If you don't like Thain's suggestion (and it may just be a good one):

I have a set of Craftyman wobble sockets that make header bolts relatively easy - at least for the ones with clearance for a socket. Mine are 1/4" drive, but if you think there's room for 3/8" drive, consider getting those instead.

For my 7/16" head bolts, I also have a Snap-On angle-head wrench that's rather handy. I since discovered that some cheaper brands make this type of wrench as well.

[johnunit]

Short of replacing the bolts (i'm going to eventually) I used the open end of a 3/8 wrench and got it as tight as I dared.

[packman]

I have a closed-end box wrench with a long stem/handle that I use to get at the #7 cylinder/port bolt. I have a variety of other box wrenches to use for tightening the header bolts. The wrench with the long handle is good though, because I can tighten the bolt(s) from up top. I haven't had to titghten the header bolts in a while though.


Packman

[mrltd]

I use stainless allen head bolts with stainless lockwashers. I made a custom swivel socket for them too. Works great. Same ones Thain is talking about. For the price of a set of arps I bought enough bolts and washers to do 3 cars.

[zoomie]

the first set i used were grade 8 bolts, just had to replace those not long ago bent the pipe flange last winter hitting a curb. the new ones i used were cheapies i figered if i could cut through the grade 8 bolts with my dremel real easy like it wasnt worth buying again . and a washer for each side.
i also used red rtv for gasket sealer, it works well on header to head sealing as well. took me a while to get used to having no exhuast leak upfront.