Stuck head bolt - at wits end.

[Howard]

What the problem is is that the actual bolt is rusted to the head. I doubt heating it up will do anything.

It looks like you have an iron block.

However, if it was aluminum, the tension of the block away from the bolt certainly wouldn't hurt your efforts to remove it.

 

[BUTCH1]

Apparently my mom works with a guy who machines heads...if I sent it to him, do you think he'd be able to get it all right?

As a note, I'm not planning on keeping the car either, but that doesn't mean I want to skip out on doing it. I can get a head from a junkyard for around $150 or so...but I'm not sure if it would just be able to bolt right up or I'd have to do anything to it?

You might want to call some other junkyards OP, around here the local pick-a-part would let that head go for around $40 but you've got to remove it yourself. It might bolt right on and work OK but chances are a '96 is gonna be a high mileage head, machine shop can re-grind the valves, mill it (if necessary), install new valve seals for around $150-200, then at least you know your not going to install a head that will cause issues and force you to take it off again if it does.

 

[thaugen]

OP should have used a cobalt drill bit to remove the bolt head. eg. Irwin 3016028 Cobalt Drill Bit, 7/16" $6.95.

For the benefit of anyone else with a similar stuck bolt, this happens with steel-aluminum corrosion. One way to break the corrosion: You will be using a six-point socket, not a 12-point. Before you bung up the bolt head, try re-torquing down all the head bolts completely and then over-tighten the stuck bolt by just a bit. If it turns even the slightest, you will have broken the corrosion and then you can alternately loosen and tighten the bolt and it should come out a little at a time. If that doesn't work, see if there is sufficient space to put a punch against the bolt head and hit it with a BFH. If that doesn't work, and the bolt head is not recessed too much, try to put a pipe wrench on the bolt and use a big cheater. Pipe wrenches don't care if the bolt head is bunged up.