Hello All,

I am new to the board and feel lucky to have found such a great resource...

Anyhow, here's the question: I am about to swap in a rebuilt LT1 (355ci w/ forged internals) and new tranny into my well-used 95 Z28. I know GM wants me to use their torque-to-yield cylinder head bolts, but is this really necessary? I don't like the idea of single-use fasteners, especially when I will likely be swapping heads several times in the near future...

BTW, the engine builder (not myself) built up the short block with cylinder head studs - now its easy enough for me to yank these and use any bolts I need to, but the fact that it was assembled professionally with cylinder head studs (obviously not a torque-to-yield design) leads me to believe that it might not be the only way...

I've also had Mustangs and other high-compression V8's in the past and not one had a requirement for torque-to-yield fasteners - and never a problem with cylinder head sealing and maintaining compression.

What do you guys think?? Any input / personal experiences would be appreciated.

-Chris

 

Most people on here that have had the heads off will just go with ARP fasteners. Wether its bolts or studs thats your decision. Since there are studs already in there, go ahead and use them. You shouldn't have any issues.

Aaron

 

There was a great thread in advanced tech a couple months ago about torquing head bolts. I would search for it.

 

Well, the first thing I think is that if you have head studs, good luck changing the heads with the engine in the car! I don't think there is enough room to remove the head over the studs.

The next thing is althought the GM bolts are fine, unless you have the torque angle wrench to do them properly, just spend the extra cash for ARP hardware and then you can just torque them normally.

-Dave C. '97 Z28