brand, how much, and where can i get them? i want to be able to do it once and it not leak, burn gaskets or back out any!

 

The Stage 8 locking header bolts that we installed on my friend LS1 seem to be holding up just fine and he purchased them from www.ls1speed.com, but several of the supporting vendors on this board carry them. Stage 8 also makes the header bolts for the LT-1 motors. Breslin is also another favorite on this board.

 

ive been running my hooker lts for about 3 years with the bolts and gaskets that were given to me by the place i got them from. No leaks as of yet *Knock on wood*. I would just use whatever they give ya personally...

 

I understand one of the drawbacks of using a locking bolt is that the locks can be a pain, especially if you drop them into the abyss. Another might be that just becuase you get a certain torque on them to begin with and then lock them down, you may still experience a leak and you wind up doing it again (fooling with the locks).

I prefer the 1" ARP stainless, 12 pt bolts. The 12 pts make it easier to get a grip on them at different angles and the heads are small enough to allow a wrench in between the primary and the bolt.

One should check, the headers bolts every once in awhile anyway and if they are locked, how do you know that they are tight?

But this is just a personal choice, like what wt oil to use, etc.

When it comes to header bolts and spark plugs on the LT1, one should consider right up front the need to have the right tools, eg. custom wrenches, etc. to be able to easily remove and tighten those particular items with the least hassle. JMHO

 

Its funny you mentioned that, I had to stay underneath the car, and my friend installed the locks from up top, they slipped off during the process several times, good thing I was underneath the car to catch them, otherwise they would have been lost in the "abyss."

 

IMO....... Breslin hands down.

 

Breslin.

 

Stage 8's suck. They are very soft and easy to round off.

 

ARP stainless none of that locking BS

 

I agree. 1" underhead length though. .75" will not do.

 

Highly recommend Breslin, you'll thank me when you're installing them vs Stage 8

 

I have used bolt stage 8s and Breslin. The stage 8 just plain suck. They have the locks and retainers you have to mess that sit up against the primary to keep it from backing out. I had to cut them down so they would even go on..

 

ARPs definitely. Put them on right and you don't need the "locking" crap. Although my install is still doing great with the .75".

 

I used the ones Jet-Hot sent me with the headers and haven't had a problem yet(maybe I'm just lucky).

 

I've got the Stage 8 set on one car and it'll be the last. While the concept is good, the stupid clips would only fit on like 3 of the bolts. All the others were too close to the primary to be able to use so I ended up, basically, just having expensive header bolts.

What is a bit odd is the only time I haven't had problems with headers is when I installed the MAC shorties on my 94Z and I used the supplied bolts and supplied paper gaskets. On all other header installs I've bought the "good" gaskets and the "expensive" bolts and have had nothing but problems. Based on some of the other comments here, I have to wonder if the factory supplied "junk" might just be the good stuff