help! impossible driver's side header bolt

Glendale/Virginia Village brochacho

 

they may be. The material quality is probably much lower though. With a few heat cycles on them they look pretty blotchy and gross now.

I'm sure the JBA ones line up better too.

 

i may pick up a set myself later. not sure what my plans for the truck are yet tho. either way my stock headers are trashed. rusted and broken studs

 

My initial impression is that they are OK if you have a lot of patience and little money. Only time will tell how they hold up once I get this mess all resolved

 

Get it yet?

 

Nah, I haven't had a chance to poke at it yet... I was gonna pull one of the other bolts then try to find a header one from the parts store that will fit

 

I'm giving up on this shit. Ran all over and finally found what I needed at an Ace. It was close to closing time and a guy came and rushed me out. He grabbed the wrong nuts and lock washers. i know they'll make it right but even then now I can't get the old fvcking bolt out and I'm pissed. After spending about 2 hours messing with it I want able to get it backed out.

I've wasted enough time across the last several weekends on this one small thing.I'm pretty close to selling this damn truck because there's so little enjoyment left in it

 

That's a damn shame

 

Did someone force you to put an aftermarket header on it?

 

When it comes down to it, the root of the frustration here is that it's a lateral move after dropping more time and money into the truck. I had a passenger manifold leak that I couldn't resolve nor could the 2 shops I took it to. You're right, I chose to put the headers on the truck and chose to do it myself to save money, fuck me, right?

I'm not saying I'm blameless here but feel free to come over and take a crack at it. I'll buy you a beer if it's less difficult than I've made it out to be

 

haha, I would stop by if I were close. I guess you didn't think the socket caps I suggested would help.

An experienced mechanic with a garage full of tools should be able to figure how to tighten it. I would hope they wouldn't charge you much to tighten a few bolts. Maybe you know a mechanic or have a friend of a friend who's a mechanic.

 

I actually bought some to try but couldn't get that bolt out to even give it a try.

I'll have to give it a shot another time. Due to a combo of my schedule and apartment rules I can basically only work on this on the weekend which just fuels the frustration.

 

If the socket + socket cap were to allow enough space to tighten the bolt/nut, then it would allow you to loosen the old nut too (unless I'm misunderstanding something).

 

Did you check these out yet? More clearance and more angles for socket to get in position.

Edit: just saw you can't get the one you have started out.

 

Grind a box end wrench thinner to allow it to slip on.

 

shit, I'll definitely try this.

I even bought a bench grinder during one of my many trips the the hardware store

 

I think I'd replace the stud with this bolt. God damn the issues with after market...

 

There's a Fastenal by my office so I'm going to try running by there during lunch sometime this week to pick up a new set of the 12pt socket cap bolts. Since I have to go to Ace to exchange what I bought I think I'm going to return it because the diameter was slightly smaller that the bolts that came with the header.

 

yeah, that's what I would expect too but it seems to be significantly more difficult to back off with a few heat cycles on it

 

hope they have something that can withstand the heat.