Header bolts
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
I went with the ARP studs. They are expensive, but there are so many who have had problems with bolts that I think it was worth it. You have full thread engagement in the head prior to starting the nuts on the threads so the risk to the aluminum head is real low compared to using the bolts and risking a cross thread. Just my $0.02 
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 752
Likes: 1
From: Tulsa OK
I have Kook's LTs and used the original stock manifold bolts. Torqued them to spec at installation and then checked them after a few heat/cool cycles. No problems or leaks.
I used the stock metal gaskets as well
I used the stock metal gaskets as well
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,384
Likes: 8
From: Southwest Virginia
If your using factory steel gaskets (highly recommended) the factory bolts work very well. In the old days with paper/fiber type gaskets as they aged they would move around under the headers and compress causing the header bolts to become loose. Once they start to loosen the gasket will start to leak and once that happened it was not long it would blow out and you had to replace them. Locking the header bolts helped but didn't totally solve the problem. The factory GM gaskets are steel and will not compress any more after they are tightened. Just be sure you use the older round port gaskets and not the newer oval port gaskets. Order a set for a 99 C5 coupe and you will get the correct gaskets. You can normally reuse the gaskets as long as you don't damage them. Just make sure the ports in the gasket are perfectly round, not oval. Many people have used the oval gaskets and many have not had problems, but they don't fit the headers as well as the round port gaskets.
Just to be sure my bolts didn't come out, I bought the stainless Breslin bolts. They work very slick. Just be sure no one tries to turn them out without loosening the center pin first!
Just to be sure my bolts didn't come out, I bought the stainless Breslin bolts. They work very slick. Just be sure no one tries to turn them out without loosening the center pin first!
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
