I was removing the first bolt in the header heat shield. It was real hard to unscrew, and then the head of the bolt twisted off & broke from the threaded part of the screw.

Did I miss something? Why did it do that? Would PB Blaster work on the other bolts to prevent it from doing this?

I dont want to test it without any advice, because I may be doing something wrong.

 

if a bolt is gonna break it will break, there's nothing you did or can do about it. that's why you or anyone else should never OVER TORQUE any bolt. Anyway it's happened to me many times working on my car, if the bolt doesn't serve a big purpose i just move on if it DOEs i drill a tap and remove the broken stud.

 

The bolts are there because they serve a purpose. I wouldn't suggest bypassing any bolts. Leave the 'rigging to the ricers. Your're going to have to tap it out. Start will a small drill bit, then increase until you get to the correct bolt size. The tap it out with the tap that hsa the matching thread pettern. Might be able to rent a tap set from AutoZone, I'm not sure. Or buy a cheap one somewhere. Good stuff to have around.