2002 Pathfinder Aluminum Valve Cover Bolts

[AlekAuto]

Hey, everyone. New to the forum.
I'm currently recording a video that goes through everything you need to know to swap the 2002 plastic valve covers for some 2001 aluminum ones. It's a bit less straightforward than you'd initially expect, so I wanna be able to get into all the details.
I've got basically everything down; the spark plug seals, the different ignition coils, all that good jazz, but there's one major issue I've run into: the valve cover bolts are different.
The 2002 model doesn't use grommets, while the 2001 model does. The 2002 bolts don't fit into the 2001 grommets.
Nissan calls these grommets "washers", and they're part number 13268AD200 .
However, what I can't seem to track down is the actual valve cover bolts themselves. You'd think that'd be fairly easy to find, but I can't find them anywhere. I think they're part number 13224AD200 , but I'll be honest, I'm not even 100% certain what I'm looking for. Are they just skinnier versions of the 2002 bolts, or are they normal bolts that don't have a step up in size, like Toyota valve cover bolts? Could I find bolts with the same thread pitch and get 'em from Home Depot, or am I gonna have to track down the actual original bolts? Given that they're aluminum, I'm a lot more worried about them stretching or cracking if I just skip the grommets entirely. Anything that comes with grommets should use the grommets.
Any help on how to track these down, what substitutes can be used, or just a picture of what the 2001 bolts even look like would be great. Thank you.

[mdmellott]

Those 13224-AD200 parts are the M6 shoulder bolts used with the plastic rocker covers. The bolts for use with the aluminum covers are common hex-head flanged M6 x1.0 screws (Nissan/Infiniti part number 01411-00181) At $9 each (dealer prices) it is best to use a common grade 8.8 screw from The Home Depot or Fastenal for less than a buck. A common hex head screw with a washer works just as well. I'm not sure of the length. Maybe 20mm. The washer/grommets serve much the same purpose as the shoulder bolts in that the metal washer part, of this rubber grommet and metal washer piece, has a cylinder body with a flanged head that is pushed into the grommet. The cylinder body acts as a standoff that contacts the motor heads, just as the step on the shoulder bolts do, when proper torque is applied. Just like the shoulder bolts, the bolts for the aluminum covers only get torqued to about 78 in-lbs maximum, which is doable with a screw driver, so be careful not to over torque these. It doesn't take much to crush the washer body cylinder and wreck that piece.

[AlekAuto]

The bolts for use with the aluminum covers are common hex-head flanged M6 x1.0 screws (Nissan/Infiniti part number 01411-00181)

Thank you so much, this is the information I needed!
For anyone from the future with the same weird problem as me who's looking for a concrete answer; M6-1.0x30mm with 10mm heads. I ended up using AutoZone NeedaPart bolts, not the best in the world, but a hell of a lot better than the "mostly correct" Menards and Home Depot offerings. Bought them one at a time by going from store to store until I had enough of them lmao

With this info, I was able to find that they're 30mm, longer than the plastic cover's bolts because they need to clear the grommet. Turns out, I actually had 8 of them in my toolbox, I just didn't know what they were because I was under the impression I was still looking for a bolt with no threads on the top half, since that's what pops up on image search when you search the part number, the other thing that shows up is a screw which also wasn't correct.
It'll take me a while to edit the literal 500GB of footage I shot for this project (I could do an entire rebuild on a 2JZ and only end up shooting half that footage I s2g the VQ looks like it was designed by Germans), but you'll prolly get a shoutout 'cause this is legitimately the message that made it click like "I ALREADY HAVE THOSE!"
I'll update this thread when I'm done with the video.

It was really difficult to track down the other 12 I needed, for some reason. Home Depot was out of them, Menards only had ones with 6mm heads, even Fastenal doesn't stock them. Turns out, M6-1.0x30mm with a 10mm head is actually really rare. No wonder Nissan stopped making them, this must be the only thing they ever got used for.
Technically you could get the 6mm head ones that're more common, but when it comes to anything measured in inch-pounds, the difference in diameter might actually make a difference when distributing the force on the grommets. Plus, 6mm is a pain in the a** to remove later, if God forbid you have to do it twice for some reason.

[VStar650CL]

You can get flanged head 30mm's from McMaster-Carr for $8.36/50 (p/n 94036A231) or standard heads for $11.37/100 (p/n 91280A068), which even with shipping probably comes to less than you would spend in the AutoZone help section.

[AlekAuto]

You can get flanged head 30mm's from McMaster-Carr for $8.36/50 (p/n 94036A231) or standard heads for $11.37/100 (p/n 91280A068), which even with shipping probably comes to less than you would spend in the AutoZone help section.

I actually did consider that, but it genuinely was more, oddly enough. The AutoZone ones were $5 for 5 of them, shipping from McMaster Carr was $11. Spent $10 at AutoZone, would have spent close to $20 at McMaster Carr.