HypL

Simple job of replacing the cam seal on my gsr went Wayyyy bad lol. I stretched an m8 bolt trying to only torque to about 20ft lbs, that bolt was replaced with a spare and fixed. BUT......Then when tightening one of the small m6 bolts on the end of cam cap near the cam gear, the bolt snapped..

I removed that cam cap, and lazily since I didn't have an easy out, I drilled and tried to tap a flat head bit in to cut into the sheared off bolt and would use my impact screwdriver to twist the broken bolt out. When doing this, the screwdriver jumped and gouged the cam cap mating surface. The bolt is still broken and stuck in flush with the surface, I will buy an easy out tomorrow and attempt to remove it.

I attached pictures of the mating surface that I gouged. Will this cause any issues and affect the integrity of my head? Thanks

HypL

Just to add, The gouges are just indented, there is no raised portion that would affect the cam cap from seating down flush.

TomCat39

Have you verified that with a precision straight edge and feeler gauges? I highly doubt your eyes or even fingers can tell .001" from .0001".

DumpdEJ6

As long as the surface isn't raised I can't see a problem with it. Even though TomCat's advice is sound, (and definitely the best way to do it) I would probably just lightly tap it with something until I was sure there weren't any burrs or pieces sticking up. There are a lot of ways to ruin something, but logically I don't think you'll have a problem as long as you're careful. That being said, don't blame me if I'm wrong. There are some things that you can go "backyard ghetto mechanic" on, and some you can't.

HypL

No I haven't verified if its raised at all. Is this surface very sensitive to defects, as say a cam journal where the camshaft actually spins? And what are the risks that go along with it? Thanks guys

Vtec04

The surface IS VERY sensitive to burrs because ANY burrs or other pieces sticking up WILL hold the cam cap up and is likely to cause problems. or stress other bolts. As long as you are CERTAIN that the surface is flat, you should be fine to leave it that way. I have 2 broken bolts on my crankshaft girdle on my D17, both on the very middle cap. That must be WAY worse, no problems yet, hopefully I don't have any lol.

motoxxxman

the above answers are all good and correct. make sure it truly is flat or slightly concave. could lightly tap around with a flat faced punch to knock burrs down.
to answer the question I think you are truly asking; no those dents will not compromise anything because it is far enough away from the cam journal that it won't warp anything. unless you were hitting it hard as all holy hell, in which case the actual hammer impacts may have bent the whole corner a little.

k3ntegra

Use a left hand HSS drill bit and a hand/power drill to remove it.

JRCivic1

I bet the OP got it by now. You are about three years late.

k3ntegra

I meant to reply to this post:
https://honda-tech.com/forums/acura-integra-6/broke-10mm-bolt-head-cam-seal-plug-cap-3346867/

Forum's layout scrolls down infinitely..

DCFIVER

You have to go into your setting to change the way the forum layout scrolls.

I hated when the switched to that style,but it can be changed.