Just as the question states:



I was thinking about my next setup and was wondering at what point you stop using head bolts and just stud the heads down. Ive heard people say as soon as you start hitting 10+ pounds of boost?. I disagree with this b/c I ve seen people run upwards of 15psi on a d1 with heads bolts. Just wanted to get some of your opinions on this. At what point did you have to just stud the heads b/c you kept popping head gaskets?.

 

Thats a good question. I don't think their is a definite answer to that. alot of it will be due to the tune (no detonation), and also what headgasket you maybe using. I think a set of ARP bolts torqued to spec will take a big amount of hp. Heck I think Brady used ARP bolts and 1074 Fel-pro's and was making around 20-23psi. I know towards the end he was even pushing the car to 25psi, but then started lifting the heads.

Jose

 

Wow , I didnt know Brady was pushing that amount of boost on arp bolts. I guess that says something about arp bolts which is a good thing b/c I really didnt want to stud the motor unless I really had to. Good info keep them coming

 

Basically its going to come down to the point of whether you want to pull the motor in order to get the heads off or not. Because I dont think you have enough room to get the heads out when using studs.

 

CJ, thats the main reason why I don't want to use studs....it would be a nightmare to have to pull this motor everytime to get the heads off.


Jose

 

I thought ARP addressed that problem by making their head studs with a notch in them so you can remove them with a stubby flathead screwdriver.

I could be wrong, but worst case scenario, you could do the same.

Marty

 

If you could un-screw them out, then that would be very nice. But I don't recall seeing that on the last set of studs I saw being installed on an LT1. If that is this case then I wouldn't mind going to studs for added safety.

Jose

 

>The stud kit has allen wrench openings so you can remove the studs too .
You can also loosen the 6 bolts that hold the K member to the subframe and lower the engine enough to get clearance to remove the heads .

If you do get the ARP stud kit ensure that you get the 12 point nuts otherwise the valve springs get in the way especially on the AFR heads ... ask me why I know this
I would give you the part # , but I got rid of the box .

 

Hi yes ARP resolved that problem a long time ago their head studs. My head studs have a Allen key thread so that they are very easy to remove while in the engine bay...

http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...629_6_full.jpg

in the picture you can see how the studs look like.



As far as Sharmand’s question about having head studs … I think for any forced induction motor stud s should be mandatory. (Any good engine builder will tell you to “stud it”) It’s a fact that studs provide more clamping force and uniformed torque reading. In my book it’s cheap insurance and for the slight price difference why the not have the piece of mind???

 

Aswome, so I guess it wouldnt be a bad idea after all to stud the motor with the new stuf kits out now. But I think Im going to stay witht the bolts until I have an absolute problem keeping the heads down.

 

Hmm.... guess I may order some studs then. Didn't know about the changes they had made. Glad you guys posted this info then. Thanks

Jose

 

You cheap b@#@#@#@# buy the studs you can use then in your other motor when your done with this one

 

>part #'s
ARP 12 point stud kit # 234-4301 http://www.arp-fasteners.com/
and I used Cometic head gaskets

 

Thanks for the pointer on the 12-points. I woulda made a big booboo otherwise with my AFR's.

You wouldn't happen to have the specs and a part number for the Cometic's would you?

Marty

 

>contact Seth at www.cmotorsports.com
thats where I got mine (.040")