ChevySucksLOL
Member
Hey yall. I have a 1969 charger with a 383. I haven't confirmed this, but the previous owner said the 383 was out of a 71 cuda (not sure if being a 69 vs 71 will have any bearing on my question). The passenger side header manifold bolts keep backing out of the head. I've tried brand new bolts, but it still happens. The 3 worst holes all have failed helicoils in them. I guess my question is, once the head has already been drilled out and a helicoil is installed, what is the next step once that helicoil is stripped itself? Since I got it I've just been re-tightening the bolts every few drives, but it ends up eating 2-3 manifold gaskets a year and almost always has an exhaust leak. Second question would be if I have to pull the head and have it professionally machined to fix the problem, is there any head-work that can be done on the 906 heads to beef up the 383 some without having to get into different pushrods and such? It has a 650 4bbl holly and electronic ignition and was bored .060 over, but otherwise stock to my knowledge. Just thinking if I'm gonna have to get work done might as well try to get a few more HP out of it. TIA