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Header Bolts
Pontiac V8 Header Bolts
Hot and Hard to Reach — Header Bolts for Pontiac V8s
Header bolts live in the worst place on the engine: red hot, hard to reach, and loosening every heat cycle. The head on the bolt is as important as the thread — a standard hex often will not fit between a header tube and the port, which is why header hardware is made with reduced and mini heads.
Butler stocks ARP stainless header bolts in hex and 12-point, Mr Gasket reduced-profile and mini-head sets, and the Spotts L-bracket kits that make headers and manifolds bolt to 1972 Pontiac D-port heads.
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More About Header Bolts
1. Pick the Head, Then the Length
All of these are 3/8-16 into a Pontiac exhaust flange. What varies is how much room you have for a socket and how long the bolt needs to be.
| ARP stainless hex | ARP-400-1112 is a 3/8-16 stainless header bolt with 1.000" underhead length and a 3/8" wrench hex, set of 16. |
| ARP stainless 12-point | ARP-400-1212 is the 3/8-16 x 1" 12-point version. ARP rates their stainless header bolts 15 percent stronger than Grade 8 steel, with a compact head that lets a socket into tight spots next to the tubes, and a polished, corrosion and heat resistant finish. |
| Mr Gasket 1" hex | MRG-917 is a 3/8-16 x 1" set of 12, heat treated Grade 5, black oxide, with a washer-faced hex smaller than standard. |
| Mr Gasket 3/4" sets | MRG-3409 is a 3/8-16 x 3/4" mini head set of 12 with a 7/16" hex; MRG-915 is a 3/8-16 x 3/4" set of 12 heat treated to Grade 8 specs with a reduced profile head and black plating. |
2. The 1972 Head Problem
1972 Pontiac D-port heads are their own headache. Pontiac did not cast the metal in one area and deleted the end bolts on the exhaust manifolds that year.
| What fixes it | Spotts L-bracket kits use the drilled and tapped hole on the front or back of the head to pick the end of the header or manifold back up. SPE-HLB-01 is the kit for headers; SPE-HLB-02 is the kit for manifolds and works with both standard and Ram Air exhaust manifolds. |
| Casting numbers | these fit 1972 D-port heads cast 7K3, 7H1, 7J2, 7L4 and 7M5 — 1972 only. They will not work on any other year Pontiac head. |
| Check before ordering | if the head has the pad but it is not drilled and tapped, the brackets cannot be used. |
| What is in the box | four brackets, two front and two rear. The four short 3/8 bolts to mount the brackets and the four 3/8 nuts to attach the headers or manifolds are not included. |
3. Installing Them So They Stay Tight
| Torque | Butler's Pontiac chart lists exhaust manifold fasteners at 30 ft-lbs with anti-seize lubricant. |
| Anti-seize every time | it is what lets the bolt come back out of a head that has been through a thousand heat cycles. |
| Factory exhaust bolts will not do it | the stock manifold hardware is not the right length or head shape to hold headers on. |
Re-check header bolts after the first heat cycle, and remember that a bolt bottoming in a blind port hole reads tight on the wrench while clamping nothing.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.