I finished putting on my heads last night and torqued them babies down to about 65 or 70 ft/lbs of tq (that's what my install guide said). I used new stock bolts from GM and the Impala SS head gasket. My question is are these down tight enough? They seem like they could have taken more like 85 or 90 without doing any damage and would seal better most likely....what do you guys think?

Brad

 

65 is good. I put mine down to 70, but I don't have stock heads and am not using Studs and copper seal head gaskets.

I wouldn't torque your stock head bolts down more then the 65 recommended.

Every other LT1 car I've done, I did at 65lbs and have never had a problem.

Jason

 

Thanx.....

 

Yeah I started with about 20ft/lbs, then did closer to 50 and ended up at 65 almost 70ft/lbs of tq. Also my install guide had the pattern for tightening. I held it at 70 for 2 seconds on each bolt with my torque wrench.....

 

Might want check the book again, I'm pretty sure it says torque them down 45, 55, 65... I'm sure if you did 20 50 65 it would be ok, but the reason they have them spaced like that is to prevent the head from warping while torquing them down..

Jason

 

It would seem 45 ft/lbs on the initial twist would most likely warp the heads to me......as opposed to 20-45-65 anyway. That just seems like too much too fast.

 

I'm about 99% sure it's 45-55-65 with all SBC, including the LT1's. But really doubt it makes a HUGE difference as long as you dont just tighten each one to 65 on the first swing.

 

Another key is to properly lubricate the bolt threads and underside of the bolt first and ensure the bolt holes are clean (thread chaser). This eliminated untorquing the bolts due to binding. My ARP head bolt instuctions give different torque values depending on whether you lube them with motor oil vs ARP lube.

 

The following was pulled from the 97 Camaro LT1 service manual
I couldn't remember what the torque was and printed this off earlier this week because of a very strange cooling system problem my 95 TA has. Loosing coolant and can't find out where.
I am 99% sure there is no external leak. No coolant smell from the exhaust and nothing from the heater core. I am really confussed. If I can't figure it out, I will be pulling the heads.

Cylinder Head Bolt Torque:

Install the new cylinder head gasket.
Install the cylinder head over the locator pins and the cylinder head gasket.
Coat the threads of the cylinder head bolts with the sealing compound, GM P/N 12346004 or the equivalent.

Install the cylinder head bolts finger tight. Tighten
Tighten the cylinder head bolts in sequence (Center out) on the first pass to 30 N·m (22 ft lb).

Use the J 36660-A (angle meter) in order to tighten the cylinder head bolts on the second pass. Tighten
Tighten the short bolts (3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16) 67 degrees.
Tighten the medium bolts (14, 17) 80 degrees.
Tighten the long bolts (1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13) 80 degrees.

I am not sure what this translates in ftlbs but this is what the manual says.

Good luck.