valve cover bolt grommet help

[Jwood562]

Quick question.

going to be swapping valve covers soon, got a core set powder coated from the local junk yard. ordered new gaskets and noticed it came with grommets for the bolts.

looking at the spare bolts I have, they seem to be one piece, how do the grommets come off and replace them with the new ones?

hopefully I am missing something simple.

I see new bolts neing sold for like $12 each, no way i am shelling out that kind of dough for all these bolts

 

[skwerl]

When I did my truck 5.4 last year, I ran into the same thing. The typical procedure is to cut off the old grommets and then put the new grommets on with some grease or Vaseline. I decided to leave the old grommets on and forget about it. They still don't leak.

 

[Hollowdweller]

Just replaced all mine, kinda sucks but not to bad. I used this tool to pry the old ones off and just pushed the new ones on. Didn’t use any lube or anything but it’d prob make the job much easier. By the time I got to the last one my fingers were TOAST!! Using dykes to cut them off might have been easier or a box knife

 

[Jwood562]

Thank you for all the responses. Since I have some spare bolts I will give them a shot.