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Reply to "Temporary Studs for Cylinder Head Installation"

The amount of clamping force needed is related to the specific needs of the head gasket.

The head literally floats on the head gasket. Sealing is not attained by crushing the gasket.

This is seen more clearly in using an aluminum head on an iron block where the two do not have the same rate (coefficient) of expansion.



Aluminum heads for instance, do not require more clamping force. In fact they will show more deformation then iron heads will, but at some point you no longer are just crushing the gasket, you are crushing the head.

If say you choose to use a Fel Pro head gasket, the torque numbers are given in the installation instructions. They will not benefit from more clamping. In fact that is detrimental to their function.



In the case of head studs, they are a different steel alloy then the head bolts are. You need greater torque on them simply because you are stretching the studs. It is not applying more compression to the gasket then the bolts are.

You can use studs on iron heads if you want to but their benefit is largely to the aluminum heads to reduce distortion to the head itself.



Because of the normal heat/expansion cycles the gasket sees in its lifetime, you have to presume that at some point the gasket wears out. That number is not given but personally I would not still rely on an original 50 year old gasket especially with old gasket technology.

If you show signs of water leakage on the end fasteners check the head for straightness and change the head gasket and put in NEW head bolts. The head gaskets wear out. The bolts do also.



Forget about the 105 torque. It is long gone. It was specifically for the "special" Reintz gasket of the early 70's. That's old tech.

Last edited by panteradoug
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