hello. a few months ago - actually -- thinking about it now.. i want to say a year ago-ish. i built my 355 lt1 engine. a friend of mine had some brand new arp studs.- that he was not going to use. so i got them from him real cheap. and used them in my motor. we used threadlock on the studs. - and then threw the head on and torqued the bolts. - engine has about 2 thousand miles on it now. -- and i never went back and made a pass on the studs. -- i recently started the car- and drove it 2.5 miles to my dealership--( changing the exhaust system) and i noticed like 4 studs- are leaking coolant -- and its comming out of the stud.( well where the nut goes on the stud. ). .. any ideas....-- anyone seen this. - i spoke with another friend. - and they said they had to take off the studs and -- got new bolts... to solve the problem. . -- or should i just make another pass on all the studs.---? and see what happens.? --- and what are you guys torquing the studs toOo?

 

You were supposed to use thread sealant, not thread locker. Coolant will work past thread locker. Pull the heads and have them checked for warpage.

I have a pal that added just 10 LBS of torque to his head bolts and warped his aluminum heads.

The best sealant to use is the Permatex Indian Head stuff, nice and goopy and sticky. Their High Tack works well also.

Use ARP thread lube and follow their recommendations for torque values.

Those Cometic head gaskets work well also.

 

local hi-performance engine builder here in my area , steered me away from studs on a streetcar. said he never had any luck keeping them from leaking after a few thousand miles. did everything he could think of and anyone recommended with no luck.

 

sorry i meant thread sealer-- yeah . thats what i used. -- and i did follow the arp specs. i duno.. we will see what happens.

 

same **** someone else told me.. ..strange.

 

Did u torque the stud into the block? Your supposed to if I recall but you'll need a 3/8 drive small torque wrench.

 

Studs themselves cannot be torqued into anything. All you'll do is jam them within their own threads and make them difficult to remove. Doing so may also damage the lead-in threads in the block deck threads. The torque is accomplished by the nut clamping down on the head pulling on the stud thereby stretching the stud until the correct tensile pre-load is accomplished.

Just spin them hand tight until they're bottomed into the block deck.