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How to avoid blowing header gaskets:
Step one - Get good bolts. ARP stainess work nice.
Step two - Torque them down, evenly. Start at the middle, work to the outside, alternate front to back as you go.
Step three - Put your tools in the car with you; you'll need them. When you drive the car, after it cools down, re-tighten the header bolts.
Step four - Keep doing this until they aren't tightening any more. The gasket will conform to the surface of the heads and headers, which will in turn relieve some of the clamping force of the bolts. By heat cycling, then tightening, you reach a point where the gasket is done compressing, and it'll stay tight. The key is to throw out the cheap bolts that come with the headers. If this is an LT1, when I did mine I used ARP Stainless Steel Header Bolts part number 400-1212 if I remember right. They're 1" long, so you'll get more thread engagement which will reduce the likelyhood that you're going to rip the threads out.
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1998 Z-28 - SLP lid - Ported TB - LS6 Intake - Dynatech SS headers/Catted Y - Magnaflow Exh - 3.42 - Yank SS3600 - UMI weld-in subframe connectors, Adj LCA, Adj PHB, Q1A TA - Bolt-in Relocation Brackets - Strano springs - Koni shocks - 17" C6Z06 wheels - 326HP/335ft-lbs - 12.35 @ 110.41
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackbirdws6
I can appreciate a dream but this person needed some real friends.
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