im on the top on back on the passenger side. i can get it loose, about bent my breaker bar. any tips on how to break it loose? first one wasnt that bad.

 

A better breaker bar for starters.

 

its a craftsman i've used it for many of job with no problems

 

Try the long breaker bar from Harbor Freight. It is surprisingly high quality and longer than the Craftsman.

 

I had no problem with 24 inch bar on one side, because it perhaps was not done properly by previous owner when he replaced heads. On the other side, I slipped on my cheater pipe (water pipe that you slide over the handle of the breaker bar). With 4 feet of bar, plus boarding house reach, out they came. Seems like I had to have a 3 inch extension to clear something at the rear.

Getting it back together is the fun. Save your old valley pan gasket, and use it to mount to resurfaced heads before bolting in new HGs. It is sad you can wiggle things around on the index pins and make valley pan line up a lot better. I didn't, and things have gone down hill rapidly since then.

 

bad news i managed to strip out the back bolts next to the fire wall. any ideas how to get them out?

 

Right angle drill, left handed bits. Issue will be re-tapping hole, you will probably use a helicoil or such. Aluminum is soft, be sure the right size bit is chosen. Usually there is one size for steel and a slightly smaller size for aluminum.

Do you have them up enough where something could be used to pry upward while you turn them? If possible to get them out of the stripped hole, you have saved the hassle of drilling them out and controlling where all those tiny pieces of metal go flying off to. Still have to deal with stripped hole. It won't be the 50 cent bolt that stripped (Murphy's Law subparagraph 345(a).23dxc page 456).

 

If you just rounded off the head then you could try this.
Shop IRWIN HANSON 25-Piece High Carbon Steel Spline Extractor Set at Lowes.com

 

Right idea on the extractors, here is a cheaper set that is impact rated and has a 5/8 size. Don't use an impact tool on it unless it is a last resort. It can damage the the threads on the head.

Craftsman 10 pc. Impact Grade Bolt-Out™ Damaged Bolt/Nut Remover : Sears Outlet

 

i'll try the craftsman set. they are not that rounded out. i stopped before the got too bad.