I own an original'68 RS/SS 350 Camaro and have the following questions:

Did the stock head bolts come with washers?
[/align]Were pushrod guideplates used on the stock engines?
[/align]Will the use of ARP bolts (or anything other than stock)for the accessories diminish the car's value?[/align][/align]Any help would be greatly appreciated ! Thanks![/align]

 

No the stock head bolts did not use washers.
Some did come with guide plates.

If you are trying to keep the a 100% original then the use of aftermarket bolts may effect that 100% value. If you are going to drive it and run it hard then invest in good bolts.

What are your ultimate plans for the car?

G

 

Thanks G! I plan to sell in May or June?

 

I do not recommend replacing head bolts,also if you do reuse themdon't remove/clean the tar looking substance from the threads - it's there for a reason (factory sealer), and can be troublesome to redo.

 

The use of aftermarket parts will only impact the value if you are advertising it as 100 origional. Otherwise the value would only nominaly lowered.

 

That's some bad information to give. Where did you learn that?

What if the head bolts are pitted? They WILL be after 40 years of use.

How do you PROPERLY torque the heads down with 40 year old goop on the head bolts? You can't and if you try, there's a good chance that old stuff will flake off into your water jackets or somewhere else. That goop WILL interfere with torque readings.

Take them out and clean them with a wirewheelor brush and sometype of solventand then check for pitting. Use a good non-hardening type sealer on the threads (I use "Yamabond") and some anti-seize on the underside of the bolts heads.

IF for whatever reason you feel you need to replace the head bolts on your engine and you're not willing to get after market, you can get OEM or OER head bolts from your dealer or any of the classic car catalogs. Unless that car is a "Survivor" or a Frame off restoration, 99% of the people buying the car won't care if the head bolts are aftermarket.

RM

 

My engine builder's told me that.
Dave & Rich Koffel
http://www.b1heads.com/

 

Ok - my bad, and I will be the first one to call bull$h*t on myself. I went to lunch today with Rich and mentioned this discussion - he wound up smacking me. He never said not to completely clean the bolts - he said to not remove the last bit from the shaft at the thread line. He does say to soak/wire brush and inspect the threads and if clean reuse. He stated that original bolts from the 60/70's are grade 12 and with a std 4lb over torque they can safely be reused upto 3 times. He also uses the Permatex Aviation Sealer on the threads as well as he has a specail tool heruns down the bolt holes and applies sealer to the inner threads and such.

 

I read your post and went over to your engine builders site to check things out and was just about to tell you to find a new engine builder and then when I came back you had another post. I was just about to unload on your engine builder.[:@]

I'm glad you spoke with him and now see the light

RM

 

yep - i screwed up, but for you - after having gone to his site it should have been pretty obvious the problem was with me and not them.