Thread: What to do after V8 head removal

Studs are a good thing.
Torque is up to you, anywhere from over 70 to 100,
read the installation directions carefully.
as mentioned, lots of posts on here about studs,,

Mate see my head gasket top end rebuild thread and I used 75 pounds. New instructions with ARP head studs say 70. I just wanted an elbow crack more... Cheers

Originally Posted by biggin

It seems to me I have two options.

1. Mark head of new bolt, remove bolt #1, install new bolt #1 at 20Nm then 90deg turn. Do same to replace the other nine bolts in turn. Then torque up all bolts the final 90deg.
With this option all I need are ten new bolts.

2. Remove and discard all bolts, replace gasket and start again.
This will require ten new bolts plus a new head gasket.


What do you reckon?

G`day ,

if you have only done the first 90 degs you should be ok using the bolts , if you have done any to the second 90 degs the gasket is crushed so not reusable if you want even tension . If you use studs you would need to closely look at and/or measure the thicknesss of the used gasket for crush .

The first 90 won`t worry the bolts the second 90 and the running temp is what makes them 1 use .

When the engine get to running temp the gaskets are further crushed this is when the bolts are supposed to do what they are designed for .

I wouldn`t use the gasket with the nick because of the coolant passage , if the nick was on the side away from the passage it wouldn`t be a concern .

They are a bit precious in that area and prone to fail when all is good ,

Thanks PLR.
So, if I were to loosen the bolts, mark them, tension to 20Nm, turn 90deg etc. I should be right.

Originally Posted by biggin

Thanks PLR.
So, if I were to loosen the bolts, mark them, tension to 20Nm, turn 90deg etc. I should be right.

In my opinion as long as you haven`t done the second 90 with any of them .

The reason is because the bolts haven`t yet reached their stretch limit , it is only after the second 90 and the running temp that they will reach or exceed the stretch limit which makes them one use .

Up to you if you reuse the gasket but if it is the nick gasket i wouldn`t even consider reusing it .

If as suggested you dot the head and bolt that will show you where your up to and your start point .

Dot after the 20nm .

If you reuse the gasket this start point may not be equal .

No reason why you can`t dot the two 90s on the head as long as you use a code you`ll know , like different colours because they are a distance .

Some good news. I managed to get the head bolts tightened sussessfully by marking all the bolts in a line with a straight edge after torqueing to 20Nm.
Now one for the brainstrust. Looking at the pic of the rocker, is there an oil passage through the rocker to get oil from the rocker shaft to the where the pushrod sits? I tried blowing air through but there doesn't seem to be a path to the small hole on the inside where the shaft would be. Unless the passage is blocked on all my rockers.

G`day ,

yes , there should be a clear drilling , may not taste great but if you wanted to you should be able to blow into the ball end and air should easily come out of the bit the shaft goes through so no great pressure is required .

The oil comes up through the 2 end pedestals around the bolts and flows along the shaft .

Looks like I'll be taking the rocker assembly apart again ( I've already fitted them both to the head. I'm pretty sure I wasn't getting any compressed air through the rocker piece. I only checked the one.
I think I must have blocked it up when I attempted to clean the whole assembly as they are all in good condition. What's the best way to unblock them?