Header Bolts Being a Pain in My Ass!

91StangGT5.0

Member

Oct 21, 2009

162

0

17

Mar 27, 2010

#1

• Mar 27, 2010

• #1

Ok so some genius who engineered the Mustang 5.0s headers forgot to make space to be able to use a socket when putting a header bolt in. The pipes from the headers are too close to the bolts to where I cannot put a socket or sometimes a wrench on it! Does anyone have any guidance on how to make these damn bolts go in?

 

J

jerryD

Founding Member

Mar 16, 2000

1,061

0

37

Gladstone, MO

Mar 27, 2010

#2

• Mar 27, 2010

• #2

get a crows foot.

 

SpartaPerformance

10 Year Member

Nov 5, 2006

2,517

61

89

Long Island NY

Mar 27, 2010

#3

• Mar 27, 2010

• #3

Headers bolts are always a pain in the ass! You also need some patience.

 

nero6

Member

Aug 30, 2007

94

0

6

Mar 27, 2010

#4

• Mar 27, 2010

• #4

I just took mine off and I am installing new ones. Use an open ended wrench, on some of them I could get at best a 1/4 of a turn before I had to reposistion the wrench again as it was binding up against the header. I just took my time an had no issues, other than it being slow and a pain in the ass.

 

Tanus

New Member

Dec 11, 2009

847

1

0

A to the Z

Mar 27, 2010

#5

• Mar 27, 2010

• #5

you gotta get the ones that use a 5/16 wrench instead of the normal 7/16 to tighen them

 

87GT Drop Top

Member

May 1, 2009

500

3

17

South Florida

Mar 27, 2010

#6

• Mar 27, 2010

• #6

I had to grind the head of the wrench. I made the wall thinner and ground it so it wasn't as thick.

 

cjrpony

Member

Jan 23, 2010

439

0

17

West Michigan

Mar 27, 2010

#7

• Mar 27, 2010

• #7

Spectre makes header bolts that have a smaller head and also can use an Allen wrench in the top of them. Part number SPE-46723 at Summit. This includes a socket with built in allen wrench. I have used them and they work fine. Autozone carries these also.

 

mob

the guy who hits on his mom

20+ Year Stangneter

Oct 3, 2003

2,566

136

104

Dallas, TX

Mar 27, 2010

#8

• Mar 27, 2010

• #8

You guys are making this difficult. Go to advance auto parts, in the mr. gasket performance section they sell a set of header bolts that use an allen head so you can use an allen wrench or an allen wrench socket to tighten the bolts.

 

Celeb

20+ Year Stangneter

Sep 8, 2002

736

13

59

Here and there

Mar 27, 2010

#9

• Mar 27, 2010

• #9

Allen bolts FTW

Mr Gasket part number 916

 

Reactions: Daves_foxbody89

the pony boy

Founding Member

Apr 19, 2002

358

0

16

10512

Mar 28, 2010

#10

• Mar 28, 2010

• #10

those 5/16 allen head ones suck! get the ones with the 7/16 head much better!even with my mac equal length i was able to get them on with ease!i had the allen head ones on my notch with the sme headers and theres a few bolts that were still hard to remove!i also have this little skill cordless ratchet i bought at home deopt that was perfect for putting on headers!

Power Wrench - Power Lug Wrench - Cordless Power Wrench - Lithium Ion Power Wrench - 2372-01

 

J

jerryD

Founding Member

Mar 16, 2000

1,061

0

37

Gladstone, MO

Mar 28, 2010

#11

• Mar 28, 2010

• #11

crows foot and a stubby wrench works pretty good for me.

 

T

Treachery

Founding Member

Jun 9, 2002

148

0

17

Mar 28, 2010

#12

• Mar 28, 2010

• #12

I came across this at Summit-

Percys High Performance 21004 - Percy's Split Lock Friction Lock Header Bolts

Percy s High Performance 21004 - Percy's Split Lock Friction Lock Header Bolts - Overview - SummitRacing.com

The bolt threads apparently expands against the thread wall. No need for a lock washer. A possible drawback to this type is when the bolt is removed from the cylinder head, however. Will the head threads be damaged if the bolt is removed?

Anyone ever use this type of header bolt?

 

Tanus

New Member

Dec 11, 2009

847

1

0

A to the Z

Mar 28, 2010

#13

• Mar 28, 2010

• #13

Treachery said:

The bolt threads apparently expands against the thread wall. No need for a lock washer. A possible drawback to this type is when the bolt is removed from the cylinder head, however. Will the head threads be damaged if the bolt is removed?

Click to expand...

never seen those before, bet they work great, but its pretty har to justify paying 80 bucks for header bolts. To answer your question, I think as long as you lossened the lock part before removing the threads would be fine



Oh and the allen heads ones wont work in like half the bolt holes, on my equal length headers at least.

 

7upstang91

10 Year Member

May 30, 2008

936

124

74

Florida

Mar 28, 2010

#14

• Mar 28, 2010

• #14

I had the motor out of my car two nights ago and was putting the headers on. Still a PITA.

 

S

slow87GT

Founding Member

Jun 5, 2000

162

0

0

Tonawanda NY

Mar 28, 2010

#15

• Mar 28, 2010

• #15

just use the open end of the wrench