I have 4 or 5 stripped bolt holes on my heads where the intake manifold bolts are to go. They aren't stripped all the way down, just the first few threads.

What is the best repair for this?

 

28 ft lbs torque spec. You can try chasing the holes and see if you can regain some of the thread at the top. All you need is enough to start a bolt into the good threads. You can also snag longer bolts to reach further into the head, just a couple of mm's longer than stock. Thread insert is common method, with the small torque spec they'd work but a huge pain on an installed head.....

 

Thankfully I was able to get them in after chasing with a bolt like you said. I don't believe I cross threaded any, but it was a struggle getting them all in. I'm guessing the heads have been machined before, because the holes between the manifold and the heads did not line up so well. Oh well, it's on and torqued. Now on to finish cleaning these darn rocker covers, which were caked in sludge.

 

I'll tell you an unfortunately late secret, I loosely bolt the intake four corners to the heads using a valley pan shim on each runner, before any head bolts are cinched. That way the intake is perfectly squared between both. The block dowels allow enough wiggle room to do this and it was because of that fact that I started doing it. I did this over 35 times with shaved heads. In every case I never had intake bolts not aligned and the runners where true to the heads for a perfect seal. Once the heads where torqued to final spec I'd remove the intake and valley pan shims and lightly butter up what was needed. It's not mentioned in any manual..... it worked for me, took more setup time but ended up being far more efficient. My truck was the test mule, three times.....

 

 

LOL...... practice, lots of practice. Not all engine dowels are so sloppy but Rover nailed it like a poster child. They're not alignment pins and just about every shadetree experiences the same realization after the fact. It's a wee bit entertaining from my side of the net.