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Finally got around to starting my header install on my 987.2 after work today. Things went fairly smoothly until it came time to tighten down the notorious bolt that I've read about. I have a thin-walled 10mm swivel socket (suggested in another thread) but still for the life of me can't get it on the bolt to tighten it. Any tips?
I've taken the headers on and off my 987.2 CS at least 3 or 4 times, swapping fabspeed race headers and stock.
While I haven't read about any "dreaded" bolt and I'm not sure which one you are referring to exactly, I do remember one or two that it was a bit of a challenge to get the socket squarely on.
They are e torx if I recall and I don't have e torx swivel sockets so I used a regular socket with either a wobble extension, a swivel extension, or some combination.
Do you have such an assortment of tools ?
How did you get on that bolt to remove the headers in the first place?
Get rid of 3/8 to 1/4 inch adapter and get a 1/4 inch extension. Get two 1/4 extensions of different lengths if that gives you some options for the approach to the bolt. Have you done everything you can to drive the bolt in by hand? Try a small 1/4 socket driver that you can turn with your fingers. There are some available in different diameters with knurled outer surfaces that allow you to get a grip. Use that to drive it in as far as you can by hand. It doesn't look very far in in those photos. Does it turn fairly easy or is it binding? Goal is to drive the bolt in farther before you try to get the socket on. This will give you more options for getting the socket on the head of the bolt. If all else fails after you have tried putting it on the bolt using a 1/4 inch drive extension, grind or file some diameter off of the socket's outer diameter driving part and driven part to make it even smaller in diameter.
One more option, get a 1/4 inch u-joint and give you some more angle of approach options. A u-joint driving a u-joint. You only need to achieve 22 lb-ft of torque so strength isn't a big deal.
Thanks guys. I have swivels, but no wobble extensions so I'm going to pick some of those up today and try to tackle it after work. I'll also try to turn it in more by hand.
@badabing I didn't have any issues removing the bolt from the OEM header using a swivel extension, just seems like this one is in a position currently that's making things a pain.
I just tackled this last week on my 987.2 Boxster S. The design of the header (Soul) made it so that I had to thread in some of the bolts as much as I could by hand as the head of the bolt was too close to the header tube to get a socket around it. I also used a 3/8" socket instead of a 10mm one.
I used flexible socket extensions (link below) to get to that bolt. I have a 981 but, from the looks of your pics, the installation of exhaust headers looks similar. It is kind of a pain but, as I recall, the torque spec is something like 17 ft.-lbs. and the flexible extension was able to handle that. I sacrificed an E12 Torx socket for the job by grinding down the outside until it was very thin and would fit in the space (to grind it down I put the socket on an electric screwdriver and rotated it as I held it to the wheel on my bench grinder).
I have since upgraded to a stud kit using all ARP studs, nuts, and washers. Don't have to worry about wear or cross-thread in the threads of my cylinder heads, and the nuts are much easier to get on than driving in bolts each time. Yes, I swap headers and OEM manifolds more than I should.
Appreciate all the input guys. For anyone reading this in the future, I got a set of wobble extensions this morning and was able to complete the install.7.0.1
05-06-2020, 11:39 PM
987 header install, how do I tighten *that* bolt
