Valve cover bolt options? (1 Viewer)

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I am doing the valve cover gasket this weekend. Local dealership is out of bolts. I have dozens of M6-1.00 25mm in stainless and 10.9. Any issue with using either one since the torque value is so low?
 
I am doing the valve cover gasket this weekend. Local dealership is out of bolts. I have dozens of M6-1.00 25mm in stainless and 10.9. Any issue with using either one since the torque value is so low?
Use carbon steel in case you break one you can still drill it out. SS is a lot harder to drill if broken.
 
Use carbon steel in case you break one you can still drill it out. SS is a lot harder to drill if broken.

Ah, great point. I spent quite a lot of time trying to drill out a broken bolt extractor, I bet stainless might be worst than that.
 
Ah, great point. I spent quite a lot of time trying to drill out a broken bolt extractor, I bet stainless might be worst than that.
No, it's not worse. But you MUST use cobalt bits and go really slow. Plus if you slip you're on aluminum.
 
I think I'll use the 10.9 and a 1/4" torque wrench. I would rather not snap one. I made it through the transmission solenoid replacement intact, would like to keep the streak going. Rear sway bar bolts, not so much of streak there.
 
They are crusty, a little rusty and have 185k on them.

Use a bench grinder with a fine wire wheel. They’ll polish right up like new. Here’s mine with over 250k miles after a polishing.

47577D73-CC14-4B52-B063-BFA94CCEEDCE.jpeg
 
Wow - you can tell you live in the Southwest. Very clean look. My exhaust manifold looks like it came off a Detroit salt truck.

I will give it a try. Thank you for the advice.
 
BTW, I know the factory ones can be cleaned up, but after a nightmare experience with a broken one up by the firewall I just don't trust them. The metal they used seems really soft to me.
 
BTW, I know the factory ones can be cleaned up, but after a nightmare experience with a broken one up by the firewall I just don't trust them. The metal they used seems really soft to me.

^^^^^^

Agreed.

Replaced mine with stainless, light film of antiseize and then just snugged them down. I don't expect to have any problems removing them at a later date.

Anyone breaking off bolts while installing them deserves whatever misery it causes to extract them. The Valve Cover has built in 'stops' that won't let you over-compress the gasket. You can tell when you're 'there', so another 1/4 turn and then STOP.

Now....removing old bolts (especially folks in the rust belt) is often an entirely different matter. Galvanic Corrosion can create a sort of chemical 'weld' of the bolt threads to the threads in the head. Not a lot you can do about that if dealing with bolts that you didn't put in. But if YOU were the last person to install them and you didn't put anti-seize on them, KNOWING you live in the rust belt, then again....I have no sympathy to offer, sorry.

stainless bolts1.jpg
Stainless VCbolts.jpg


VCG stop.jpg
 
I stripped two of mine at 15 LB-FT.

Go with about 20 LB-IN.
 

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