Cam cap bolts AAARRRRGGGGHHHH

[scir16v]

So far have stripped 2 of the heads out. I have a 91 vh45de and I'm pulling the lifters to bleed them before I put everything back together. I know I read about the vg30 cam cap bolts working, but I also read something about them not fitting under the early valve covers.

Is this true? Is there another alternative?

[Mettler]

Just tig weld the cam caps in place when refitting them.

Jokes aside, I think I am using SR20DE cam cap bolts in my setup.

[sj240sx]

i got them all out without stripping them all you do is get one size bigger torx bit and hammer it on and they wont strip. hope this helps

[CrazyTrance]

Make sure you clean out the holes really well. Old burnt oil likes to get in there and it makes it really easy to strip them out. Thats what i found out on my old engine at least. Clean it out with a small screw driver or paper clip and make sure you catch all the crusty particles.

Also having someone help you can make a difference. Have someone push real hard on the bit while you try and break it loose.

[slamdbusa]

Impact driver FTW!

[Carl H]

impact driver will get them out or an impact gun on low torque.as stated clean the heads out well before attempting as you wont get a proper seat without doing so...brake cleaner works pretty well here.also use a good quality torx bit and be patient.since you have an 'early' engine the only bolts you can use are the torx bolts, sucks but its because of the cam cover design.i had to slot and remove 2 of my bolts this way was not fun.

[scir16v]

So after reading around and finding nothing really, I decided to take some of the cam cap bolts off of an extra sr20det head laying around.

The 2 pictures I took are the area where I would think the interference would be. Nothing is torqued down, just hand tightened. I have a 91 model year engine. I did nothing to the bolt or the valve cover.

It looks to me that there is just a bit of room between the head of the bolt and the cover.

[Chrispy300]

I used VG30DETT bolts on one of my VH's when I stuffed a couple of the original bolts. Everything seemed to clear just fine. That was on a early model j-spec VH.