I just got done putting my heads on and torquing then down to 75 ftlbs with ARP head bolts using the ARP bolt torque paste.

I blew out all the bolt holes with air and used twisted up paper towels to get the rest of the oil/water/gunk out of the holes. The heads torqued down just fine but realized after i was done with bolt heads that i never chased the bolt holes out.

Do you guys think that i will be ok or should i take each bolt out one at a time and put the chase down then torque the bolt back?

I was also thinking run it as is for break in of new parts then re-torque the heads to 75-80 ftlbs before i do any power runs.

BTW i used GM MLS gaskets on my 347.

thanks for your help guys

 

as long as the bolts all threaded in smoothly and torqued down smoothly you have nothing to worry about

 

ya i spun them all down hand tight with the wrench with no issue then torqued them down in three equal stages 25/50/75.

 

as strange as its going to sound, it seems that the guys that chase the threads are the ones that always seem to pull the threads out of the block.

 

As long as you removed all the water and dirt you will be fine. The only reason to chase the bolt is to remove excess dirt from the threads. If they hand tightened easily, they are most likely clean.

 

When you chase the threads, you shouldn't use a tap. You need a thread chaser, which doesn't remove any metal. A tap will remove metal. ARP makes a thread chaser for this, it is around $55.

I ran mine up to temperature a few times and then re-torqued the heads. Kind of a pain but worth it and there was a difference in final bolt position so it did move. You need to back each one of 1/8 turn then retighten to the final torque value.

 

You're fine if they went in smooth.

For future reference and searches, you can make a chaser pretty easily out of a stock bolt. Just use a die grinder or the side of a cutting wheel and flatten the threads on 2 opposite sides of the head bolt.