Bolt kits.

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dartfreak75

Restore it, Dont part it!
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I'm looking at a couple different engine bolt kits I was gonna reuse my old ones but for the price I'm just gonna replace them just so my engine will look brand new and not have old rusty bolts. Do yall recommend using original style hex heads or Allen? I see alot of Allen kits available I was just curious if there is any benefit to them?
 
Which bolts? You mean you don't want to wire wheel them clean and end up painting them anyways?
 
Which bolts? You mean you don't want to wire wheel them clean and end up painting them anyways?
Everything but the head bolt is included with the kit.
At the risk of sounding stupid here is the thing. When I took the engine apart 15+ years ago I didn't do a very good job labeling them i just threw all the bolts in a bucket so now I have a 15 year old bucket of rusty bolts. The kit I found is only 40 bucks and everything is labeled where it goes.
I do however still have the bolts out of the 318 I took apart back in the summer. But again they are all greasy and nasty the intake bolts where rusted pretty bad so they have to be replaced anyway I figured if I have to buy new intake bolts and header bolts I may as well replace them all.
 
sometimes the allen heads are easier to get at and sometime they aint (think intake) but as long as you are getting the correct spec (grade) then there should be zero issue.
got links to the kits you are looking at?
 
I like new bolt and prefer allen head. ARP and stage 8 are what I usually use.
 
My vote is for the hex. Personally I don't have all of the Allen sockets for torquing and such. Also when you paint if you paint the Allen will fill up with paint LOL also personally to me the hex just seems to look correct. Again that's just me and my taste. Also you know me Ultra budget-minded like I said wire wheel, and likely just be up at Ace Hardware getting the few that I needed.. also if you're going to ever think about some headers? They will need their own special bolts.
 
buy a pound of grade 8 gold hex bolts. 2 bucks and all your showing bolts will be gold.
 
I'm partial to the hex head and locally purchased grade 8. Many of the aftermarket sets are put together without consideration of different accessory bracket combinations or flange thickness differences on factory vs aftermarket intakes and exhaust headers. You can end up with a lot of leftover lengths (ie. wasted $) that you can't use. Either way, check your bolt hole depths.
 
I'm partial to the hex head and locally purchased grade 8. Many of the aftermarket sets are put together without consideration of different accessory bracket combinations or flange thickness differences on factory vs aftermarket intakes and exhaust headers. You can end up with a lot of leftover lengths (ie. wasted $) that you can't use. Either way, check your bolt hole depths.
That's what I was gonna ask next. Wouldn't I end up buying a bunch of different sizes? Are all the bolts the same diameter just different lengths?
 
Whichever you get, get stainless. I do business with a guy on Ebay his Ebay name is 1badcamaro lol He sells all types of stainless bolt kits.
 
bolts aren't what they once were. I don't care whose bolts you buy hex or allen. They won't be as good as the old wire wheeled original bolts. I use arp bolts on rods, mains and heads.
 
Thanks guys I may end up just buying a couple to replace the intake bolts and cleaning and reusing the bolts out of that 318 I started to build.
 
Keep in mind stainless does not have the strength of steel bolts.

Soak your greasy bolts in paint thinner for a couple of days, closed container.
Take out and let dry on a paper towel.
Rinse with brake cleaner, they will come clean.
If rusty sandblast, or soak in evaporust.
Regardless if you sandblast or soak in evaporust there must be no grease on them.
 
Reuse the originals... Stainless are weak. Most of those kits use cheap offshore steel...looks the same but isn't.
 
I know they are pricey but I went with the arp kit for all my bolts. Course I didnt have any old bolts for my small block so had to buy them all anyways lol
 
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