OK, so I got both heads on and one all torqued down, and the other one pretty much done too, but one of the shorter bolts won't go in , it goes in, but it won't tighten down, my brother said I need a slightly longer bolt.

Would a local shop carry just one head bolt?

If not, anyone have any spares layin around

Or are there any tricks I can do? I'm using hardened washers, since I have aluminum heads.

 

How much of the other bolts was exposed before they started screwing in? What does the bolt do instead of tightening?

 

You've got mail.

 

You should have spent 56 bucks and got new ARP head bolts with the hardened washers. I think I mentioned that when you were first talking about aluminum heads.

 

LOL, you're probably right, and I may just end up doing that.

I was trying to torque the bolt down, but it just wouldn't grab it seemed like

I'll probably just get new bolts and save my self some hassle.

 

Its possible you stripped the threads in the bolt hole, they are Aluminum Heads. Start looking for a Heli-Coil kit, new bolts are not going to help if you can't set the torque now.

 

I agree, pull that head back off and check for a stripped bolt hole in the block. Wouldn't be the first time.
Do these heads require special length bolts?

 

Hmm, not from my knowledge, every bolt went in fine and torqued down, except for that one.

The stripped part would be in the block right and not the heads?

My brother has a very good knowledge of working on engines, and he didn't mention it being stripped , just that I would need a slightly longer bolt, which is odd, sense all others went it.

Any chance when I tapped the holes , that maybe I missed some junk in that one?

 

not very logical that one bolt is too short. sure you got the right bolts i nthe right holes? long ones go in area under the valve cover, except the medium length ones, they go in the hole at each end, area under valve cover, the short ones go on the bottom row, out side of valve cover. it's not hard to get a head bolt to start in the hole.

 

I have always been told that you should always use new bolts when installing heads. This doesn't solve you current situation..but I would do like F-BIRD said and take them off, check for any stripping, and put some new ARP bolts on her...better safe then sorry.

 

When I was putting on my heads I had the same problem. I popped the head off and there was a peice of old gasket material inside the bolt hole in the block. I cleaned the entire block surface and threads very well but still missed the one little peice of gasket.

I'd also suggest you buy new head bolts. Don't skimp out on ANYTHING related to cylinder heads because it will be 3 times more expensive / more PITA fixing later than doing the right thing now.

 

Ede, yes I'm using the correct bolt, I'm an idiot but not that bad

I'm just going to order new bolts and be safe, the old ones have about 12k miles on them. I'll take that one head back off and recheck the hole.