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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> HEADER pipe clamp bolts
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Message started by Savard 05 on 06/02/26 at 04:50:27

Title: HEADER pipe clamp bolts
Post by Savard 05 on 06/02/26 at 04:50:27

Has anyone had issue with torque on these set at lowest setting? Manual said 13 to 20 Ft. LBS I did 13 exact and used new donut gasket also just wondering if I shouldn't aim mid range of the values but it felt nice n tight. Thanks. Fyi I'm talking acorn cap bolts that clamp header to cyclinder head.

Title: Re: HEADER pipe clamp bolts
Post by DragBikeMike on 06/02/26 at 13:40:38

Be careful with those special "acorn cap bolts". More than a few members have stripped out their aluminum cylinder head messing with those special bolts. They look pretty, but it is very easy to get the bolt misaligned when trying to juggle the header pipe, flange, and bolt. This is especially important when installing a new, uncompressed gasket. With the new gasket, you can only get a few turns on the bolt before you need to switch from fingers to a wrench. If the bolt is skewed, you end up ripping out the internal threads in the head.

Regarding torque, with that big thick spiral wound gasket in there, a torque wrench is close to useless because the gasket just keeps compressing. In addition, the flange is made of some sort of pot metal and it bends easily. The combination of the soft gasket and flexible flange makes achieving a consistent torque next to impossible. You are crushing the gasket and bending the flange instead of stretching the bolt.

I personally prefer switching from bolts to studs with nuts. With studs, you always know you have complete thread engagement in the aluminum cylinder head. This old post provides info.

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