ok, Im getting ready to put on my Pacesetter headers and Stage 8 shows thier bolts to be (17) 8mm-1.25x25mm bolts 6pt DHH

So I went to the hardware store I bought some grade 8 8mm-1.25x25mm bolts but when I test fitted them through the flanges yesterday they only have maybe 3/4" of threads going through but that was also with a lock washer on top.

But still, 3/4"???

That doesnt sound like a lot. Hell the OEMs had to be close to 2" long!!

So my Q is for those with the nice costly Stage 8's, are you guys having any issues??

BTW, 17 of those grade 8 bolts were less than $5. So IDK is paying 50-60 for Stage 8's would be worth it.

 

$5 vs $50... i'd go with the $5 one's. I
ll telll ya why... Stage 8 bolts must be over tightened slightly so the retaining washer can settle back and grab something. You may find yourself working on one bolt for 10 minutes to get it seated perfectly. If it settles back too far, you may find yourself with a leak. I used Percy's Seal-4-life dead soft gaskets so they had a lot of squish to them. i would imagine on a much thinner less crushing gasket the problem would be more prone to leaks.

As far as the bolt depth, I asked my buddy a while back what the aviation rule of thumb is for bolt threads and he said that 4 full turns is enough to pass any inspection and be strong enough. 3/4" is def more than 4 turns but you are right, it does sound "close". If I remember correctly, i had either 1.25" or 1.5" bolts for my JBA's and the flange was 3/8" thick. They were relatively short. Only about 1/4" from the time they were screwed in a few turns to fully tightened.

 

Well that 4 turns sounds about right I guess. I was talking with one of our mechanical engineers and he said he thought something like the diameter of the bolt has to be equal to the threads going in. So I guess if the bolt is 8mm and the threads are 1.5 pitch then 4*1.5 = 6 threads??

Anyway, seems the bolts will be fine I guess. Hell, if Stage 8 sells them that way then Im sure they will work.

THX again buddy.

 

no prob, just don't go crankin the hell outa them.
here's what I like to do with header bolts..... keep snug'n them until you can't snug'em no mo...lol I generally make 2 complete passes of snuggin them up and then make 2 more passes getting them all tight, but in 2 stages not all at once. Then after that, your 5th time around tighten'em down pretty good. Then all you gotta do is get the truck hot and cold and re-tighten them again.
Main probem on headers, Especially LT's is they can be cocked ever so slightly and when you overtighten the bolts, you can easily strip them out OR you don't tighten them up like your spo'da and they wiggle loose real quick.

 

That's pretty much what I did, although I used EVERYTHING that came with the Pacesetters, including the paper gasket.

Been well over 3 years though and even though I am waiting for that gasket to fail, it's still fine and I ain't going thru the hassle of replacing it until it does fail.

The black bolts (cheapy I'm sure) were about where I could get maybe 6-8 threads in. I used a wrench (no socket) and just snugged 'em up, maybe three passes total. Got that summbiotch hot and re-snugged 'em one more time.

To date, I check 'em every 6k at oil change time and most I've had to do is maybe 1/4 turn on a bolt or two total when I've checked them.

I'm a firm believer that you gotta re-torque 'em after the first time you get them hot...

 

is there anything else other then the gasket and the bolts and anti seze you guy used

 

Thats all you need other than you hand tools and maybe some penetrating oil for the original bolts.