VN V6 Bolts

[vc81]

On a VN V6 does anyone know if the main cap bolts, head bolts are torque to yield?

I believe the flywheel bolts & rocker bolts are and possibly the conrod bolts as well.

From what I understand tty bolts can only be used once.

[delcowizzid]

ive reused them all youll be fine.i even reuse the flywheel ones LOL

[vlad01]

I think they are but I never heard anyone having problems reusing them.

flywheel bolts on the other hand, oh boy! have I seen the amount of complaints of them breaking after reuse and even flywheels coming off. They are small as with a lot of torque for there size and most certainly feel the stretching when doing them up to spec.

[vc81]

ive reused them all youll be fine.i even reuse the flywheel ones LOL

So did you just tighten them up to standard specs delco?

[delcowizzid]

yip head bolts done up just below the max listed in the manual same with mains and conrods

[VK_3800]

The head bolts are definitely torque to yield and technically you're not supposed to reuse them, although I'm just as guilty as anyone here though of ignoring that...!

You just need to have a good feel for the bolts - you can tell when all you're getting is stretch and losing clamping pressure. Try to avoid reaching this situation by not over tightening them, and if you find one or two are not right then perhaps its worth hunting out individual replacements. If any more than that and I'd be replacing the lot, especially if its not a standard engine.

[vlad01]

you can buy new bolts for next to nothing in the states. Worth doing to be safe.

I bought bulk lot of bolts from the states for the timing cover since they are hard to come by in an un-rusted condition. I also picked up cam and balance shaft bolts as they are TTY as well.

most bolts were only few 10s of cents to few bucks each, in comparison most are NLA here and cost 25 each on what you can still get.

I also got the exhaust studs for next to nothing too. all genuine btw.

[immortality]

You can use cap screws from your local engineering outlet. Grade 12.9 cap screws are as good if not better than the entry level (3840) ARP bolts but a lot cheaper.

I've snapped the odd rocker bolt etc so these days, I rubbish old factory bolts and use cap screws if I even suspect they may be dodgy.

[vlad01]

I have broke the middle out of cap head bolts a few times without warning. I avoid using them other than general fasting. I stick to regular hex head where i can.

[vc81]

Thanks for the replies fellas.

If I replace the main cap bolts with ARP studs, because they clamp down tighter than bolts would the tunnel need to be line bored with the studs fitted? Otherwise because of the tighter clamp force would the main bearings be out of round?