Valve cover bolts - 70 Charger

[bandit]

Unreal, I changed out my both head gaskets and get to the end of putting everything back together and I break a valve cover bolt off in the head. Arghhh!!!!! Was tightening it to service manual specs and it just went loose. It is flush to the head so no where to grip it. I would just try and drill it out but am freaked out about getting metal shaving down in there. On top of it I also find the corner bolt hole for the valve cover on the same side is cracked in half (actually fell off) and will not hold a bolt. (this corner bolt hole is in a nub piece that sticks out of the head so nothing major cracked on the head, just this mounting hole) I had the heads machined so have no idea if this is something he did or me. So now I have one side with two bolts missing. They are not next to each other thankfully and the cover seems pretty snug without them.

I do not want to do this whole job over again and take the head back off and I'm not even sure if this corner broken off piece could be fixed. What is the opinion on going without two bolts on the valve cover? Or is this one where I have no choice and have to redo this whole job so I can get the head out and have to buy all new gaskets again for everything? I haven't put the rest back together yet to fire it up and see if this will leak or not. This kind of stopped me in my tracks.

 

[dave5237]

Man. Bad luck. I will tell you my valve cover is leaking and I have all the bolts in mine. This might be something you have to fix or I hate to say this but goop it up with high temp adhesive. Good luck. I myself would cover everything up and drill it out myself on the broken one ( its only 1/4-20 ). If it is a bolt on top you have a chance but if it is near the exhaust. Watch out for leaks.

 

[Pistol Pete]

Those corner holes originally had studs and it's not uncommon for people to stand the heads on end and crack the casting. I'd try getting the head and gasket surface really, really clean and go with 3M weatherstrip adhesive ( the yellow one aka gorilla snot) in place of RTV. Don't torque the remaining bolts too tight as they will distort the cover.

 

[bandit]

Luckily it is a top bolt that broke. I want to wait to drill it out as a last option. I just have a bad feeling about all those metals bits flying around there.

Is there a lot of pressure at this point around the valve covers that I would have to worry about a blowout of the 3M adhesive?

You guys saved my day. I am going to go buy some tomorrow so I can move on and finish things up. Thanks for the help

 

[Pistol Pete]

Luckily it is a top bolt that broke. I want to wait to drill it out as a last option. I just have a bad feeling about all those metals bits flying around there.

Is there a lot of pressure at this point around the valve covers that I would have to worry about a blowout of the 3M adhesive?

You guys saved my day. I am going to go buy some tomorrow so I can move on and finish things up. Thanks for the help

If you're PCV valve is operating correctly, there shouldn't be. If it doesn't work out and you decide to drill baby drill, you can always sacrifice a crappy valve cover and cut out the tab where the broken bolt is. Attach the v/c with a generous amount of ATV and have at it. You'll need to use a jobber length drill bit to get around the v/c height but the upside is all of the shavings will fall onto the intake manifold and not inside the head. Use a magnet to pick up the big chunks and blow it off with compressed air for the little stuff and you're golden. :headbang:

 

[kidmopar]

if it was me i would take the head back off, i know its not what u want to do but trust me u will eventually and u can get a machine shop to fix the broken piece u will sleep better

 

[Garys1969RR]

The place they usually leak is on the bottom, right above the ex manifold. Thats where all the oil pools up when the engine is running. Especially at higher RPMs. One easy fix would be to get a cast alum valve cover. They are more rigid and less prone to leaking. Most guys over tighten the bolts(including me) and smash the gasket too thin. The factory specs seem a little too much. I just RTV the new gasket to the valve cover and snug it down. Then maybe another 1/4 turn tighter. When you take it off, the gasket stays with the cover hopefilly, and can be re installed. I've re used them many times with no problems. I would leave the bottom corner bolt as it is until you tear the engine down again. Those engines originally had only 4 V/C bolts in the early 60s anyway.Like I said earlier, A good Alum V/C would help there. The top bolt can be fixed with it together. May need to pull off the rocker arm shaft for better access. Tape a bunch of news paper or rags around the "Surgery" area to contain the shavings. Also keep a shop vac and a magnet handy. Should have no problems. Good luck.

 

[bandit]

Yeah pulling that head again would not make my day. It is a thicker aluminum cover and looks very sturdy so maybe it will stay tight with the missing bolts. I've been going back and forth with just drilling that thing out though. I could then use the adhesive for a backup just in case. I still have the cracked off corner piece so will see how it goes and keep it in case it is needed later. Thanks for all the help.

 

[69Bee]

If you ever take the head off, the corner can be welded up, redrilled, then tapped. The other broken bolt should be drilled and use an extractor to get the bolt out. Use plenty of towels, rags, or whatever, to seal the holes in the head up. Don't worry, it will be fine. You might get lucky, and the bolt will come out easy. Do you have, or can get left hand drill bits? Sometimes they grab, and remove the bolt quite easily.

As another member has noted, 64 and earlier BB heads only had the 4 inner bolts anyway, so you should be fine once you get the other bolt issue fixed. What did you torque them to? My book says 40 inch pounds.

 

[Jim Bob The Dancing Bear]

How about welding a smaller bolt to the valve cover bolt? it is small but you could use a mig or tig to build up a little material and get a pair of vice grips on the build up or weld a smaller stud to the 1/4 - 20.

 

[1971RR]

I had this exact same thing happen eons ago. Fortunately I kept the corner piece of head casting that broke off. While doing a k-frame swap and the engine out, I had a friend braze(?) the piece back on with a stud sticking out. That was probably 25 years ago. I just tend to take it gentle on that corner when tightening the valve cover. Passenger side lower rear corner is what broke.

 

[bandit]

After sleeping on it (actually kept me up thinking about it and some of the ideas here) I decided to just bite the bullet and pull the head again and go from there. Just had a bad feeling drilling over that area while it was still on(that welding idea may have worked though) and missing two bolts was too much for me to be comfortable with even with adhesive. I could have lived with just the corner one missing, especially with the comments about only 4 bolts in the earlier models, but not both. Too much work up to this point to leave it at this state. I can't admit what I was torquing it to. Really stupid. Lets just say I read the torque number wrong.

I got up early and got the head off again this morning and I brought it back to the machine shop to see if he could stick that corner back on somehow. Figured I might as well fix it all while it is off. They had the same idea to put the broken piece in place and attach a stud in there. He said the corner that broke off looked like it had been glued back on before. The broken off piece also had another smaller crack in it so it was about to really go even if I could put it back on and use it as a bolt hole again. Told him to just take care of the broken bolt in the other hole for me while he was at it. Should get it back tomorrow. Another $100......

 

[Garys1969RR]

Ok glad you are solving your problem. I use the M P steel shim head gaskets, and they are about 22.00 a pair at the dealer. Only .020" thick for more compression. The intake gasket can be re-used by using RTV Black sealant on both sides. Also the ex manifold gsk can be re-used, if not damaged. Happy wrenching! Let us know how well it runs.

 

[bandit]

Thanks. The guy at the machine shop said I could reuse the head gasket since it was not fired up yet. I don't see any indentations or anything on it. What do you think? Worth saving $20 bucks? The other side is still on.

 

[roadrunnerman]

you should be okay to reuse the head gasket,i've done that in the past.just retorque back to specs.

 

[69Bee]

What head gasket material and manfacturer?

 

[bandit]

They are Felpro with a steel core. They are just OEM replacements. Nothing fancy

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FEL-8519PT-1/

 

[69Bee]

They are Felpro with a steel core. They are just OEM replacements. Nothing fancy

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FEL-8519PT-1/

Should be okay I guess, but I would add a few pounds to the torque amount. I assume you torqed originally to 70 lbs, I would got to say 73-75 lbs. You want to maintain the crush on the fire ring. If you go back to 70, there is no way to ensure you applied the exact force to the bolt, and that it gripped the exact same way. If you just add a few more lbs, you solve the issue.