the engine diagnosis game!

moper said

I would run a bottoming tap down the head bolt holes. It sounds like they are flat enough. But you may want to shorten the bolts gently (dont let them get too hot) by about 1 thread. They may be bottoming in a hole or two due to milling. I've only seen that once, but something looks fishy. Does the intake fit well? The bolt holes are centered in the holes?

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now that you ask about the intake, I did put a new intake on it and it did not fit correctly, I had the machine shop that did my heads mill some off to get it to sit down far enough, and I also drilled the holes out a little bigger. ( I can't remember if I drilled the holes before I had it milled or not).

I was looking for head bolts online last night and I saw washers with some of them. Could I use washers instead of cutting a thread off? Since I will be buying new head bolts I could buy the washers as well.


I did chase the threads before I put the heads on last time. It was just with a bolt to check the threads, I did not have grooves in it to help clean them out. It wouldn't surprise me if they were a bit dirty. The block sat for 5 years after the machine work and cleaning before I assembled it. Its very possible that there is dirt in the threads causing incorrect torque.

Thanks for the thoughts and Ideas, something I don't think I would have ever thought of!

Steve