1997 Honda Civic Del Sol
Engine B16A2, Manual Transmission, 107k miles
1.6L DOHC 16 Valve VTEC

I've seen other posts about this, but none of them have photos. I overtightened the nuts on the valve cover bolts and ended up busting one of them off and stripping two more. Here are some photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/nV4Zs35cQFxcJ6Bc7.

In the photo with white numbered circles, I have stripped studs #1 and #4 and broken stud #3. Stud #2 is the same part as stud #3, and they are supposed to shows a comparison between a normal stud and broken stud. I have already gotten replacement parts from a dealer. Studs #1 and #4 are (90012-PM7-000), and studs #2 and #3 are (90014-PR3-000).

Each stud seems to have a nut around it, right where the stud meets the cylinder head. Is this outer nut bonded to the stud? Can I just wrench that nut to take the stud out?

Thanks in advance!

 

Yes, the nut is machined onto each stud that you have circled... you can remove them with the appropriate wrench. When re-installing the new studs, the two short ones (#1 and 4) torque to 16 ft/lbs, the two long ones (#2 and 3) torque to 20 ft/lbs. The nuts on top torque to 8.7 ft/lbs.

 

Thanks @JRCivic1. I took em out this morning. Studs #1 and #4 came out easily, but #3 was really difficult to turn. Might've been due to debris in the oil or the fact that the stud has never been moved before.

If other readers have trouble with that #3 stud, my recommendation is to use a 12mm 12-point wrench, not a socket. You do not need a torque wrench either. With the wrench, try to turn it counter clockwise, then apply the same torque clockwise. Keep alternating, and you should begin to hear a click from the stud breaking free from the threads of the cylinder head. It takes some patience, but eventually, on one of the counter-clockwise turns, the stud will come undone!

To put the new studs in, I did not use my torque wrench because using my torque wrench was how I broke the studs. I set it to 7ft.lb, but it refused to click and I clearly ended up breaking the studs. My wrench may not be calibrated properly, or I wasn't using it correctly. Either way, I didn't want to repeat breaking the studs, so I payed attention to how tight they were when I took em off, and tried to tighten them down by that much.