My PayPal has been sent and I'm sitting out by my mailbox waiting so make it snappy!!!!
:lol
I am an unabashed fan of ARP. I LOVE their products and have had custom fasteners made before. But this project was different.
The combination of the large diameter head and built in flange with the very narrow bolt shaft was a problem from the get go. They need to make these from stock that is slightly bigger than the flange diameter and cut the rest in.
Then my stipulation that the tip must have the safety contours that the factory had and we had another hurdle to overcome. This was a 25% cost adder by itself. Their suggestion was to just have a basic tip and shorten the bolt. After Discussion with Bill, we felt this guiding nub not only centered the bolt before engaging the threads, it was a safety feature to prevent over tightening and damaging the cylinder head or valve covers. It
had to be this way for this group.
Now If I was Summit Racing and was buying 20,000 units, they may have made this job 1 to borrow Ford's catch phrase.
3 dozen sets (or so) of 16 doesn't get ARP all hot and sweaty. They were polite and professional, but all my mails and phone calls would only do so much to keep this going. I was a bit nervous cause I had to commit to purchasing up front with a credit card # and I wasn't positive this would be a hit or not.
Seems Like I will be able to pass them all on so thanks guys. :thumbsup
BTW. Hardware store Stainless steel is Grade 5 or weaker. ARP stainless steel is equal in strength to Grade 8. This application doesn't require this strength but it is good to know none the less.