Mike, As long as you don't go thinner than the root diameter of the bolt (this is the diameter in the valleys of the bolt thread) you will not at all affect bolt strength. You also need to make sure to chamfer the machined area since any sharp angles will tend to crack. Matt Mike Kindle wrote: > > I've recently raised my standards as to what kind of oil leaks I'll tolerate, so I'm putting a new valve cover gasket on the American. So I'm also taking the opportunity to do the head bolt modification for improved oiling in the 232 as described on Matt's mattsoldcars.com website. It had not been done before and though the car had sat for a couple days it still seemed pretty dry in the valve train when I got the cover off, so I think it needs it. Basically you pull the third from the rear passenger side head bolt and the second from the rear rocker shaft bolt. If you look closely at that second rocker shaft pedestal, the casting is different, as it contains the passage for oil to make it's way up to the rocker shaft. The aforementioned head bolt also passes through that same channel further down reducing it to an easily clogged size. The "modification" includes cleaning out the pedestal passage with a wire and a blast of air, and grinding down part of the head bol t t > o provide more room for oil to pass. I'm going easy on narrowing the bolt as I fear snapping it off when I re-torque it to 80 ft-lbs. We'll know more tomorrow. > > _________________________________________________________________ > Peek-a-boo FREE Tricks & Treats for You! > http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: http://www.amc-list.com/pipermail/amc-list/attachments/20071101/278d9e26/attachment.htm > _______________________________________________ > Amc-list mailing list > Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx > http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list > > > -- mhaas@xxxxxxx Cincinnati, OH http://www.mattsoldcars.com 1967 Rambler American wagon 1968 Rambler American sedan ================================================================= According to a February 2003 survey of Internet holdouts released by UCLA's Center for Communication Policy, people cite not having a computer as the No. 1 reason they won't go online. _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list