Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Headbolts versus studs

Silly me, I thought it would be a good idea to put studs in instead of headbolts. Studs, you see, apparently run a finer pitch on the nuts and you can torque a little higher to reduce the risk of warping the head.

If you choose this path, shorten both ends to match your engine before engine assembly. It seems the studs come in one size; too long on both ends. My issues;

1) hit my new extra tall valve cover
2) extend deeper in the block obstructing one water pump bolt.

All issues are fixed, but I am afraid of the labor bill. And the engine wasn't ready today. ETA is next Saturday.

You can do a search here and find those issues discussed here before. Also, if you have to ever pull the head off in the car with head studs, you'll discover another issue you might not be expecting.

Would that be the head interfering with the surrounding body structure / AC heater componentry before the head completely clears the end of the studs? I've seen this on V8 installs.

On every stud installation I recommend all threads be chassed with a bottoming tap to insure the most complete engagement possible.

Yes, except in an inline engine, the head has to be lifted straight up in an even pull upward. If you cock it very much, the studs will bind in the head bolt holes causing you to be in a strain and having to wiggle it back straight again to continue lifting.

Ugh. Better be good overhaul. The next time the head needs to come out, in 50 years, she'll get a home energy reactor.

Glad I went with head bolts. lol

The newer ARP head studs have a allen hex formed into the stud. This aids in removing the studs. They have been like that for a long time.

Recesses can be machined into the valve cover to clear the studs. Then only 1 stud needs to be shortened on the bootom for water pump clearance.

This is exactly what the guys did. I feel relieved to hear about the allen hex.

Thanks Tom!

Hmmmm.....I was planning on using ARP head studs to save money since I plan to do my build in stages and will have to have the head off more than once. But maybe I should just stick with a couple sets of head bolts for the stages.

Here are pictures of the studs where the valve cover needed to be milled back.

You can see also the new thick washers used to install the headers and manifolds. Each washer has a custom fit grind on the sides.

That was one thing I wondered about, was the retainers on the intake and exhaust manifolds. I have an integrated head, so when I go to a non-integrated head/intake/exhaust I won't have those bolts and retainers. I suppose that's the solution if I can't find any.

Hi Lifeguard, the extra thick washers are what are used on Caterpillar headers. He had to do a little flattening of the exhaust to match the intakes. Each washer needed flattening on one side. The original brackets from the stock setup jusy didn't work. They were somewhat rotated and cockeyed.

Ah, OK. So if you use the Langdon exhaust and Offy intake, the stock retainers for the bolts won't fit?

They fit but you have to massage them.

I was looking around to find pics of what I did but can't find any. Here's what I did:

Measure the flange thickness of both. Find out what the difference is. That's how much you're going to need to grind from one side. If you do it right you'll get even clamping power on both the intake and exhaust.

Proof:



that's the offy intake, Langdon headers and stock bridges.

When the guys up at Larry's Power did my motor they insisted on head studs. But like everyone else, they had to mill the bottom of the valve cover to clears the nuts. Kind of hard to see but if you look close you can see the reliefs.
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