Arp Head Bolts

-
mikedevore

mikedevore

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2005
Messages
2,567
Reaction score
126
Location
Oklahoma
I Just Built A .030 340 With Trw L2322f Pistons. Squared The Block, & Surfaced The Heads. I Used Arp Head Bolts That Were Tighten To Their Specs In Three Steps. The Engine Has 20 Passes On It. Blew A Head Gasket To The Outside On The Lower Portion. The Combustion Sealing Ring Was Still Intact. Some Of The Lower Row Bolts Wern't Very Tight. Has Anybody Had These Bolts Stretch Before. I Have The Same Set-up On My 360 With Eldo Heads, With 300+ Passes. No Concerns. I Am Putting The Same Fel Pro Gasket Back On, This Time I Will Retourque Them After It Has Heat Cycled. Whats Everyones Take On This.
 
It's not a bolt strech issue IMO, but a re-torqueing that is needed. This is a needed step.
 
Mike, Block was square decked, or just decked? I'm assuming you know the difference so the idea of a shop saying they do it and not having the equipment is not the case? Did you check the surfaces of the block and head for flatness? What is the rest of the combo? Can you post a pic of the gasket and the chambers that blew through?
 
moper said:
Mike, Block was square decked, or just decked? I'm assuming you know the difference so the idea of a shop saying they do it and not having the equipment is not the case? Did you check the surfaces of the block and head for flatness? What is the rest of the combo? Can you post a pic of the gasket and the chambers that blew through?
Click to expand...

THE BLOCK WAS SQUARE DECKED & FLAT. THE SEAL RINGS AROUND THE CHAMBERS WERE INTACT. IT JUST FAILED AT THE WATER JACKET AREA & WAS LEAKING TO THE OUTSIDE OF THE BLOCK. I CAN POST PICS LATER THIS WEEKEND. ITS A STRAIGHT FOWARD COMBO, 340 STOCK CRANK & RODS (BALANCED) X-HEADS, MILD PORTING, STRIP DOMINATOR INTAKE, HUGES CAM / SPRINGS, 11.40'S @ 116MPH
 
Did you paint the heads before you installed them? If there is paint under the outside bolt heads they will loosen up.
 
I missed the part about the ring being intact... Sorry about that. Are you confident the bolts are not bottoming out or running out of threads before they reach the right torque? I have seen holes that were not tapped all the way. Do you have someone who can sonic test the deck of the block and head too see if they are thin in those areas? It's the pressure on the gasket that keep the fluids from wicking into it. Maybe it was just a bad gasket?
 
Don't let it get to you Mike, This kind of stuff is a real pisser especially when you buy/take percausions against this and it happens anyway.

Do like you would with rod bolts, tighten in 3 steps, then loosen and retorque going 3-4lbs tighter on the last sequence=if 90lbs, go 93lbs.

And to the guy that said paint will loosen them up, That makes no sense, it's paint, it ain't withstanding 90lbs... especially uncured.

I do this all the time & NEVER had a head bolt come loose.
 
Thanks Guys. Its Just That This The First Time I Have Had A Concern. I Came Real Close To Putting Studs In It When I First Assembled. Just Going To Install A New Gasket & Re-tourque It After The Heat Cycle.
 
Heavy paint + the washers that go under ARP bolts=chance of paint weaping out under heat cycles. Just because you got lucky dosen't mean it won't happen. Just throwing out diffrent reasons for head bolts to loosen up. He did say they were loose.
 
mod5v said:
Heavy paint + the washers that go under ARP bolts=chance of paint weaping out under heat cycles. Just because you got lucky dosen't mean it won't happen. Just throwing out diffrent reasons for head bolts to loosen up. He did say they were loose.
Click to expand...

1st for everything.
 
Never happened to me ethier. Hummmm
 
Just for clarification... you are using the ARp lube on the threads and undert the head/washers.. right?
 
I had a few issues with ARP also, I did catch them before I got the engine assembled though.

First was I bought the stud kit they make for the Edy heads and the studs that go on the inside of the head were too short, about 3/16" I called them and they told me the length they are suppose to be, I also called Edy and when I checked them it was correct. I finally realized they had too much thread on the lower portion of the stud so they were going into the block farther than they were designed to.

Second was their washers do collapse each time you torque them, I found this out when I was checking the clearance in the lower end. When I asked them, they said that was normal. Hmm???

Third was their stainless dress up kit, I had to place a new special order just to get the correct bolts for the 70 and up timing cover and water pump, the intake bolts were to long for the corners of the intake, so were the ones that hold the coil, and the valve cover bolts don't fit aluminum valve covers.

Some of this may sound petty but I feel a company that claims to be the professionals should do their homework a little better. I talked to a guy at Edy about the head bolts and he said I wasn't the first to catch that which made me wonder how many guys don't have their Edy heads torqued down correctly because they don't know you are suppose to have a minimum of 4-5 threads above the nut when they are torqued down.

I bought my bolts 5-6 years ago so some of the issues I had may have been corrected since then. The head gasket blowing could be because of the washers, They are the same ones they use for the main bolts/studs.
 
Blownfish said:
I had a few issues with ARP also, I did catch them before I got the engine assembled though.

First was I bought the stud kit they make for the Edy heads and the studs that go on the inside of the head were too short, about 3/16" I called them and they told me the length they are suppose to be, I also called Edy and when I checked them it was correct. I finally realized they had too much thread on the lower portion of the stud so they were going into the block farther than they were designed to.

Second was their washers do collapse each time you torque them, I found this out when I was checking the clearance in the lower end. When I asked them, they said that was normal. Hmm???

Third was their stainless dress up kit, I had to place a new special order just to get the correct bolts for the 70 and up timing cover and water pump, the intake bolts were to long for the corners of the intake, so were the ones that hold the coil, and the valve cover bolts don't fit aluminum valve covers.

Some of this may sound petty but I feel a company that claims to be the professionals should do their homework a little better. I talked to a guy at Edy about the head bolts and he said I wasn't the first to catch that which made me wonder how many guys don't have their Edy heads torqued down correctly because they don't know you are suppose to have a minimum of 4-5 threads above the nut when they are torqued down.

I bought my bolts 5-6 years ago so some of the issues I had may have been corrected since then. The head gasket blowing could be because of the washers, They are the same ones they use for the main bolts/studs.
Click to expand...

I had the same issues with mine from the head stud kit to the stainless whole motor kit.....a lot of the lengths were wrong...I called arp on the head studs and had to order 10 new studs that are 5.75 long instead of 5.5 and now I have the 4-5 threads on the head studs that are needed. The rest of the kit I monkeyed around, cutting off length etc to make it all work, nobody will ever know but me and they sure look sweet!
 
1wild&crazyguy said:
1st for everything.
Click to expand...

May sound odd guys, but its true. I see it all the time at work...I build Ag equipment and paint can cause some real problems with anything that needs a specific torque because it CAN allow the bolt or nut to loosen over time. Not saying that is the case here, just that it is possible, and its not a new problem.
 
Mad Dart said:
I had the same issues with mine from the head stud kit to the stainless whole motor kit.....a lot of the lengths were wrong...I called arp on the head studs and had to order 10 new studs that are 5.75 long instead of 5.5 and now I have the 4-5 threads on the head studs that are needed. The rest of the kit I monkeyed around, cutting off length etc to make it all work, nobody will ever know but me and they sure look sweet!
Click to expand...

They just sent me the inside studs for the cast iron heads which were about 3/16" too long but that doesn't matter too much.

They actually wanted me to send the others back on my dime, needless to say they are still sitting here. It was their mistake and I found it a little insulting for them to expect me to pay to send them back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top