AP1Driver

So,

I painted my VC tonight and broke one of the bolts off in the valve cover during re=installation. Pics are attached. Question: Drill the old bolt shank out of the sleeve or buy a new cam cap/mount? Hopefully the rubber grommet won't push up off the sleeve before I get it fixed... I'm going to replace all 5 bolts at the same time because I know they're only a twist away from the same fate as this one (I didn't use my TQ wrench, but will be next time)... Thanks in advance for the replies/info...

Billman250

Worst case you will have to pull the vc off and replace that one bolt. The broken bolt is in another bolt with a tower on it.

If it were me, I'd center punch it dead center and use a left hand drill bit to extract.

CrAzYNeSs

Yeah, just get it extracted and get a new bolt. Did you over torque it?

zeroptzero

they are so low toque I bet you won't need to replace the bolt that attaches to the cam cover (the one that the upper bolt threads into), you should be able to get the broken part out easily as it won't have much force on it now that the head of the bolt is broken. The bolts tend to break before the threads get stripped so you may get off easy just needing the upper bolt.

darcyw

8.7 lbft.

darcy

2003AP1

I think pulling the VC is the easiest way to go about it.

AP1Driver

Issue resolved . Thanks all. I drove the car hard for about 15 min and the bolt vibrated/backed itself out enough for me to grab it and twist it out (Miracles do happen..). I'm replacing all 5 bolts when they come in tomorrow! Bet that they're all just a few twists from snapping too. I'll be torquing them to spec with the clicker from this point forward! Thanks again for the replies. I've spent the last 4 hours polishing/mirror finishing everything under the hood (fuel rail,FPR, rear coolant line, A/C lines, etc) . Also painted every bolt head and small fastener under my hood the same color as the VC along with the raised lettering on the coil cover, the EGRV, top radiator stays, battery stay and plastic fuse/relay covers. Looks awesome IMO. Pics coming tomorrow..

AP1Driver

Dumb question:

Considering that the bolts are attached to the concave washers/caps, they do come as a set, correct??

zeroptzero

the bolts are sold individually unless you buy a gasket kit, which then gets you the 3 pieces per hole, plus valvecover gasket. If you want the other two parts to go with the bolt you need to order them separately.

AP1Driver

So it looks like I'm going to have order all of it again... Nice ;/. I already drilled the washer out to fit another bolt in. I'll just use one of my new bolts in the problem spot until the new shit arrives, thanks man.

I just don't see how the stuff should be sold separately since you can't separate the cap/bolt??