I'm on the fence here folks...

can anyone second what JucinGTA says?

 

That makes no sense, a head stud with a nut does the same exact thing as a head bolt, the only reason is so you are not always threading it in and out, trust me on this one, whether or not youll get it out with motor in is questionable.

 

Yeah, I think that the main purpose of the thread is to find that out. Input by someone who has studs is needed. Personally, I don't see the advantage of studs if you are gonna have to pull them to get the heads off with the engine in the car.

 

http://arp-bolts.com/pages/products/.../technote.html

You are asking a bolt to do 2 things, while a stud only does 1.

I have head studs. Havent tried to pull them off in the car, but i dont think it would work. Whats the big deal, especially when the studs have allen heads in them, just pull the top studs out and you are good to go.

Studs are superior to bolts, hands down, you are a fool if you say otherwise.

 

Serene - great link...thx

I understand the benefit of the studs now yet I think I will stick to bolts. I pulled the intake tonight and got a good view of the clearance. Like previously stated...it appears that the booster and the heater box will be in the way. As you may know, blown headgaskets are pretty common for N20 cars and I don't want to pull the motor when it happens.

Any additional testimonials are welcome but I'm pretty sure I got my answer.

Thanks everyone.

 

Alright, that link totally contradicted me, but I still contend that that is not the only reason. If you really think about it, logically think about it, when you tighten a bolt, the washer part of the head is twisting on the head hense making it tighter, but the actual shaft of the bolt itself has no effect whatsoever on the head, since it just slides through it making no contact with the bolt hole in the head.

When you tighten a nut on a stud, what does it do?? It twists on the washer part of it on the head hense making it tighter, but still there is no shaft contact on the head itself.

Now whats the difference, In my theory, for studs it is that you are not putting stress on the threads in the block, you are putting stress on the threads of the stud, which is good, cuz you would much rather replace a stud with bad threads than a block because of one headbolt hole with bad threads.

Dont just skim through this and take ARPs side, really think about it logically a few times and try to see what Im saying. I cannot make sense out of what ARP is saying how tightening a stud compared to a bolt can have any effect on torque loading of the head, it works the same EXACT way, except you are not turning a bolt.

 

I think you contradicted yourself in your reply. You say that using a stud, you are not putting stress on the threads in the block. There you have the key to what ARP is saying. The twising torque motion is present all along all the threads (evidenced as when you strip a hole). IMO, that is what they are talking about (and is not present when using a stud). Using a stud, you get the same forces at the nut end as you would at the head of a bolt, but no twisting force along the threads in the hole (just at the point on the stud where the nut is).

 

I've always read that the main advantage was that you got a more accurate torque value and therefore a more even head to block "pressure, (can't think of the correct word here). I would agree that you would probably have to either remove the engine or lower it to have the clearance to remove the heads.

 

Sure it can effect the tq readings, what do you think is being used to twist the shaft of the bolt? Torque. Torque used to twist the bolt (yes bolts twist and stretch) is not being used to clamp the heads or main caps down.

Im not gonna argue, but theres gotta be some reason that top fuel, pro stock, pro mod, and almost any other performance racers use head and main studs, and studs elsewhere.

Its not just a marketing gimmick.

 

Yeah, I forgot to put this in my reply. Im not really arguing that it would put better torque on the heads, even though I cant really figure out why, Im sure they have good reasons. But what Im saying is Top fuel and prostock and all those dragsters use them for two other reasons, both of them because they remove the heads after each pass.

1. Easy on/off, LT1s are one of the few heads that have dowel pins to locate the head gasket. With studs there is no way you can not have the gasket located, so it makes it easier to get back on.

2. since they take them off and on every race, after all those torquedowns on probably an aluminum block, those threads in the block are going to wear out and strip, so with studs all they have to worry about replacing is the studs, not the block ( probably like $10000 for one of those bare blocks.)

So what im saying is that another very good reason for studs along with better even torque distribution, is longevity of the block, and ease of use.