head bolts!

[86lxiricer]

Hi guys im not really new to this site i have been reading and searching and getting great tips from you peeps but never needed to ask anything because all of my questions have been answered form preivous threads untill now. About a week ago i was cruising my 3gee and romped on the gas and poof! my head gasket blows. The some was so bad outta my exuast that the truck behind me came to a dead stop in the intersection. Now i am taking on the task of relpacing the head gasket . Thanks to the great manual from this site i got a good idea on how to get outta of there and it aint fun. But anyways my problem is I know you have to replace the head bolts beacuse they stretch when torqued down and what not but i went to the local parts store ( my bro works there ) and he said that there were no head bolts for my car in his listings and at any other of the other stores. I yet to check krappa ( nappa) but what if the cant find em either where do i go then? any suggestions would be great!

[Strugglebucket]

as long as you weren't overheating a lot you should be ok to re-use them. just make sure you clean them.

[buds302]

yeah you dont have to replace them but make sure they go back in the same holes you took them out of or they wont tourqe right. i had that problem once with another car and had to get a new engine cause i stripped the threads in the block.as long as you clean up the threads on the bolt youll be fine. ah ad the head gasket in these cars is much easier to replace than some other cars. trust me youll see.

[Mac]

Well if you feel you need new bolts and can't find them at an auto store try here

[BlueBead]

Try to put them in the same holes, but if thats impossible clean them really well using a die, then clean the holes in the block usuing a tap. This will help avoid any stress concentrations on the bolts. These blocks and heads are pretty good, so you should be ok just cleaning the bolts like that and trying to match the right holes.

[AccordEpicenter]

if you blew a headgasket make sure the head is flat and not warped... same thing with the deck of the block

[86lxiricer]

yeah you dont have to replace them but make sure they go back in the same holes you took them out of or they wont tourqe right. i had that problem once with another car and had to get a new engine cause i stripped the threads in the block.as long as you clean up the threads on the bolt youll be fine. ah ad the head gasket in these cars is much easier to replace than some other cars. trust me youll see.

yeah it looks simple once you get past all the freakin vacuum hoses and what not. BUt I am taking the head to a machine shop to get it reasurfaced. I just hope my block ist warped. I dont think it is though because my car never overheated it just straight up blew. It was operating at normal temperature when it hapened so is that normal that it just blew like that without overheating?

[NXRacer]

you dont really need to worry about the block being warped as much as the head. The heads are aluminum and warp really easily.

The only place you're going to find head bolts is at the Honda dealership. You can expect to pay a PRETTY penny for those. Like 12 bucks a piece or something.

[buds302]

ok dude i blew my head gasket on my 88lxi two years ago. so i was gettin on the highway and my car was runnin like shit i was like wtf? so i decide to get out and check it out thinkin like one of my spark plug wires fell off or something. but bfore i get it stopped the check engine light come on and i knew it wasnt no damn plug wire. so i check the exhaust..... no white smoke. so im like ok then what the hell? i check the temp.....it was dead on! so i was like ok i can drive it home if it runs. so ok i get it home, btw it was a 20 minute drive through the backroads. so im at home and i dont know what to think. i check the compression.first cylinder was at 105. second cylinder was at like 93 or so. im not sure. and the third cylinder was 0 and the fourth cylinder was 0. ok it was blown but why no water leakage? check the oil it was black like it was supposed to be. ok so i tear it apart. im pretty good with cars so it took me less than 45 minutes to get it off! the gasketwas missing a little section between the third and fourth cylinders. ok, i throw a new gasket on it and in about 2 hours later .........vroooooom! she runs again and doesnt break down for another 100,000 miles! no shit. went through a couple of crank pulleys and a few alternaters, a couple of water pumps and two timing belts. but no head gasket.

but thats my story and im not sayin you should do that but i was desparate and broke so i had no choice.
any way the head is vary easy to get off with an lxi you really dont need to take any lines off. cause you dont need to take the intake out of the car. all you need is some gear wrenches to work in the tight spots. you dont need to take th exhaust manifold out of the car either.

[88Accord-DX]

The only place your going to find head bolts is from the dealer. If you decide to use the old ones, clean the holes with a tap & clean up the bolts with a die.
You might consider having the head re-built while it is off the block. Since I don't know how many miles is on it, sure it could use one. They replace worn valve guides, re-surface the valves (if not burned), & replace the seats.
I know your worried about the head being warped, you can check it yourself with (steel) straight edge & feeler guage. When you shave the head, it raises the compression ratio. So keep that in mind.
The deck (block) should be checked also for warpage. Would be good idea too. Last but not least, clean the head & deck good & follow the sequence when torqueing the bolts. Good luck with it.

[86lxiricer]

The only place your going to find head bolts is from the dealer. If you decide to use the old ones, clean the holes with a tap & clean up the bolts with a die.
You might consider having the head re-built while it is off the block. Since I don't know how many miles is on it, sure it could use one. They replace worn valve guides, re-surface the valves (if not burned), & replace the seats.
I know your worried about the head being warped, you can check it yourself with (steel) straight edge & feeler guage. When you shave the head, it raises the compression ratio. So keep that in mind.
The deck (block) should be checked also for warpage. Would be good idea too. Last but not least, clean the head & deck good & follow the sequence when torqueing the bolts. Good luck with it.

yeah i am thinking about having the head rebuilt but my whole engine needs to be reuilt so it wouldnt make sense just to do the head. I just need to get by. BUt anyways thanks you guys have been helpful.

[rjudgey]

you can allways do the head first then do the block lster, but probably just bst to check it's flat, check the wear on the valve guides, just strip and clean up real good, then re-assemble with new oil on parts, also replace vavle stem seals too and any other gaskets that are on the head, also when you do put the head back on the head bolts should be lightly oiled if not you wont get correct torque readings. And the head bolts are fine to be re-used i've re-used a new set about 5 times and not had one snap, the A20A4 bolts are best as they have a even thicker shaft than the A1 and BT series bolts which have like a sprial groove running all the way round, all can be re-used just don't abuse them, 50lb ft isn't much pressure just make sure you re-torque after full heat up and cool down or after 500-1000 miles, otherwise the sma ething will happen again, what happens is a small gap occurs after a while because of the head and block expanding when heated up and cooling down, this gradually crushes the head gasket and after 10-15K or more the pressure from the fuel and air igniting starts burning in between the gasket between the cylinders, and after a while it burns it straight out!! The other reason for it to go as well which is more with the case with me, is that you have such a high CR ratio and/or static compression that the extra pressure caused by this just blows the gasket out completely which is why a lot of turbo cars or well tuned High CR N/A motors have to run a solid copper gasket as this is the only type that will withstand the increased pressure produced, i'm using very good quality H/Gasket and they typicaly last 10-15K before they'll blow out inbetween the cylinders, CR ratio is around 9.5:1 but the Static compression is very high as the engine is highly tuned and is able to flow a lot of air and fuel into the chamber. Should step upto Copper but when you have twin Webers it's very easy to change gasket takes about 2 hours when i'm in a rush, it's also handy as it's a good opportunity to check the head for any problems, and to also de-coke the chambers and clean up the ports and valves of any muck!! When i bolt back up a clean head easy gain of 5-10bhp for a few hundred miles untill it gets all coked up again!!

[86lxiricer]

you can allways do the head first then do the block lster, but probably just bst to check it's flat, check the wear on the valve guides, just strip and clean up real good, then re-assemble with new oil on parts, also replace vavle stem seals too and any other gaskets that are on the head, also when you do put the head back on the head bolts should be lightly oiled if not you wont get correct torque readings. And the head bolts are fine to be re-used i've re-used a new set about 5 times and not had one snap, the A20A4 bolts are best as they have a even thicker shaft than the A1 and BT series bolts which have like a sprial groove running all the way round, all can be re-used just don't abuse them, 50lb ft isn't much pressure just make sure you re-torque after full heat up and cool down or after 500-1000 miles, otherwise the sma ething will happen again, what happens is a small gap occurs after a while because of the head and block expanding when heated up and cooling down, this gradually crushes the head gasket and after 10-15K or more the pressure from the fuel and air igniting starts burning in between the gasket between the cylinders, and after a while it burns it straight out!! The other reason for it to go as well which is more with the case with me, is that you have such a high CR ratio and/or static compression that the extra pressure caused by this just blows the gasket out completely which is why a lot of turbo cars or well tuned High CR N/A motors have to run a solid copper gasket as this is the only type that will withstand the increased pressure produced, i'm using very good quality H/Gasket and they typicaly last 10-15K before they'll blow out inbetween the cylinders, CR ratio is around 9.5:1 but the Static compression is very high as the engine is highly tuned and is able to flow a lot of air and fuel into the chamber. Should step upto Copper but when you have twin Webers it's very easy to change gasket takes about 2 hours when i'm in a rush, it's also handy as it's a good opportunity to check the head for any problems, and to also de-coke the chambers and clean up the ports and valves of any muck!! When i bolt back up a clean head easy gain of 5-10bhp for a few hundred miles untill it gets all coked up again!!

yeah i will clean everything up and replace the valve stem seals i got a full kit from ebay for like 57 dollars. It has everyseal you can think of. It has a graphite head gasket i hope that will work