I forgot to retorque the head bolts after I replaced a blown gasket a few monthes back. The gasket is nothing special, so more than likely I should of. I haven't driven the car much (maybe 500 miles). Is it safe to go ahead and retorque them, or is it going to affect the thread sealant? If yes, should I do it warmed-up, or cold?

 

im sure it WILL break the thread sealant, personally ive never had to retorque, sure I could have checked them but i havent had a problem yet. I use motor oil on head bolts when i torque them so i don't have the problem with breaking the seal. Also.. NEVER retorque anything when its hot unless it specifically says it in the instructions. Things expand when they got, you can strip the threads right out.

 

What thread sealant are you using on head bolts? I have never heard of that. You sure that is what is advised?

 

I think he's talking about red locktite

 

I gathered that but I haven't heard of using red locktite on the head bolts. I know that for studs, APR has some sort of lubricant so you get the true torque value but never locktite. When taking head bolts out, I would chase the threads and then clean it with brake cleaner. After that, either motor oil or the lubricant.

 

Aren't you supposed to put thread sealant on the head bolts, since they go below the engine water level? All I know is that every shop manual or gasket instructions I've ever read said to use thread sealant, and to retorque after warming the engine up do to expansion from heat...

 

For the bolts that go below waterlevel, yes. For some wierd reason, I confused it with threadlocker.

Did you use a Permatorque gakset? If so you do not retorque. I would suppose that you could get away with retorquing the head if it was not a permatorque head gasket. I have run the engine for a few heat cycles and then retorqued.

 

The gasket is from a cheap Federal Mogul/Speed Pro set, so I doubt they are torque-retaining gaskets. It's just I want to be carefull because I still remeber how much of a pain in the a*s it was to replace the last blown head gasket.

 

I always retorque. I've never lost a head gasket on the dozens of engine builds, head swaps, etc, I've done or helped do. I torque the heads in the factory sequence, in 3 steps. I'll run the engine through a few heat cycles, then retorque. Some head bolts are always loose. Not horribly loose usually, but I prefer the peace of mind.

I've seen more than a few engines with milky deposits inside the valve covers resulting from head gaskets leaking. When you tell the guy it's from the head gasket, they usually say "but it says no retorque".

noc 81: you lose nothing if you retorque now. If it's already lost it's seal, oh well. Do it while it's stone cold. Also retorque the intake bolts (after the head bolts).

BTW, I got tired of buying another set of header gaskets for head retorques. So I use the stock type metal sandwich gaskets that come in the gasket kits. I coat both sides with antiseize and pop them in. I reuse them after the retorque, making sure to reinstall them in the place they were originally installed, facing the original way.

These gaskets take an excellent set. You can clearly see the imprint of the weld bead around the header ports on them when you pull them out. I've never had one blow. Something I can't say for most header gaskets. I think the metal sandwich supports the gasket, preventing the loss of small bits of gasket. Which grow to bigger leaks and the annoying tic tic tic of header leaks.

 

I've never retorqued one and never had one fail.

I use Permatex "81B", Non-hardening sealer on my bolts for the head and intake manifold. It doesn't seem to affect torque values much if at all (never lost a gasket, so they must be close) and it is slow to harden (it stays soft, but enough heat will eventually dry it out). You can get it at any parts store (or nearly so).

 

I haven't retorqued the head gaskets on my 305 and even running 12.54 @ 109 with a 100 shot of NOS haven't had any problems.