ARP 134 3601 in Summit OE cast iron brodix -8, -10, -11 going on my aluminum headed SBC.

thanks?

 

TTT, also since most bolts have been torqued down, it will be ok to reloosen and use the same gasket right?

 

If you have put enough torque on them to crush the head gaskets at all, I would get new ones. If I remember correctly, you have the whole motor out of the car right? I wouldn't wanna risk doing all that work to have a head gasket or two not seal properly cause of 40 bucks or so but that's just my opinion.

Tom

 

are you fricken serious, the engine is still in, man, I hate to have to get new gaskets, anyone know for sure?

 

Damn Mark, I've been following your engine drama for the last few months and I really hope once you get this thing together you are running mid 13s.

I'm with Tom on this one though. Head gasket is kind of important. You want that sucker sealed up nice. Maybe someone else will chime in and correct us.

 

i'd replace the gaskets. head gaskets aren't reuable and compressing them is enough to make them "used"

 

Should be.... those heads appear to require stock length bolts. Nothing in their web page indicates otherwise. You could contact PTL to be sure.

If you change the bolts out one at a time, you can leave the gasket there. If you take them all out, you should change it.

Your one that wouldn't tighten down is still going to be an issue.... I'm not sure exactly what it was doing; but if the bolt you had went in, and appeared to screw down all the way, but wouldn't get tight, then the hole in the block is stripped; and you'll need to take that head off and Heli-Coil that hole. Very easy thing to do, very commonly needed. If that's what it did, then don't think that changing the bolts is going to fix it, you will have to repair the block; so go ahead and get the Heli-Coil kit with the right drill bit for 7/16"-14, and a new head gasket, before you start working on it.

Don't forget to put sealer on the bolts.

 

ahhh crap . Yeah, I did use sealant on the bolts though, one thing I didn't forget .

I think to save myself a little trouble and cash, I'm goin to try a slightly longer bolt, what's the worst, it won't work and it's stripped.

 

Don't waste the effort, it won't work.... the hole in the block goes all the way through the deck, the deck is about ½" thick, and the head bolt threads are longer than that (about ¾"), so if the hole in the block is stripped, there's no threads left for any length bolt. If that is in fact what happened, then just get the Heli-Coil kit and do it all at once, save yourself the pointless futility. It's really amazingly easy and painless, nothing to be afraid of at all, and not particularly expensive at all. Costs less than yet another head gasket.

 

The bolt would tighten by wrench, but it just wouldn't torque down, my brother said there is room for a slightly longer bolt, or something like that, that I can just get a slightly longer bolt and it should work. I'll see what happens.

 

2 problems: It's highly doubtful you're going to find a "slightly longer head bolt", since they're pretty much all the same; and even if you do, you're going to put 65 ft-lbs on .... how many threads?, assuming that there are any threads there at all?

I think you're wasting your time and mental effort on trying to rig your way around a very trivial situation by doing something that has zero chance of success, and you'll just end up having to do it the right way anyway after all the finding of a different head bolt and rigging has failed. Just go to the store and get a Heli-coil kit and be done with it and use the right head bolt.