[94milanols]

so i bought a 97 ls head from srd when my timing belt snapped and ive been having some problems with it. first, when we were putting the camshafts in, a bolt on the E4 bracket snapped, so i went to a shop, they drilled it out, and when they were retapping the hole, the tap broke... so im driving with a broken tap in there. Now, I got my 3rd exhaust manifold gasket, and when I was tightening it down, the bolt stripped the threads on the inside of the head... so now my car sounds like a god damn tank whenever i drive... what can I do to fix all this crap. any ideas? Its pissing me off cause its a freshly rebuilt block with all new stuff, took me 2 weeks, every night for 4 hours to do and now it sounds like ass hole.

In the future, please tell us what you need help with in your subject title. It's not very hard. -- TheGSRGuy

 

[TegG2]

You will get more help in the right forum.

 

[94milanols]

sorry about that
the moderator moved it so it should be all good now.

 

[Jacksont001]

Topic moved.

First off let me suggest a few tools to you
#1 a torque wrench. expect to pay between 75 to 120 for a nice one. skip the lever/scale ones, get one that "pops" when you hit the torque setting.

#2 A GOOD and complete Tap and Die set. I bought one at sears (metric) for around 70 bucks. when in doubt on a older stud bolt or nut, run either the tap thru the hole, or the die over the stud. use lots on wd-40 or cutting oil. you'd be amazed at how much oxidation and rust they remove that would only be binding up the threads.

#3 a good moly-based assembly lube. after you have cleaned and refreshed your fasteners, Lube 'em up. that way the torque settings will be true, and not all offset by friction on dirty, damaged or dry threads. That will also avoid snapping head bolts.

#4 a good set of metric 12 and 6 point sockets, sized to your tools and torque needs. (basically a 6 and 12 point in the 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch drive sizes) Use the right socket for the bolt/nut. a 12 point socket doesn't get a good bite on a 6 point, and could round it off or worse. buy the right tools once! (anything with a lifetime warantee and a no-questions exchange)

#5 a complete "Bolt-Out" set. again I got one at sears and it's worth it. if you remove a fastener with a Bolt-Out, throw it away. expect to pay 50 bucks.

 

[Jacksont001]

Oh yeah....
Buy a Helms manual so you know the specs and tightening patterns.

 

[pubestripe]

yeah that is a really good list Terry, and honestly improperly torqued down studs, bolts, whatever, cause threads to strip and then anger sets in! but, i have a question of did you properly torque down all the bolts, etc and they still snapped?

 

[94milanols]

inside the head they weer torques down properly and one of them snapped when torquing it to 22 on the exhaust manifold i may have overtightened it.