I'm swapping a set of pre-'87 heads on my Camaro and I was curious if GM used studs or bolts to attach the valve covers. I just want it to look stock .

 

My car had bolts as well as many others but its not unheard of for a factory engine to come with studs.

 

ive never came across one yet that had studs on the perimeter valve cover heads pre 87 ........


you can add them if you wish

 

maybe once or twice i might of seen a bolt with a stud type deal on top of it to hold a clip or something, all in all GN used bolts.

 

84chevy05

Number: 84-62

Section: 6A (VI)

Date: June, 1984

Subject: ROCKER COVER OIL LEAKS ON
SMALL BLOCK V8 OR 90~ V6 ENGINES

Model and Year: 1960-84 PASSENGER AND

TRUCK VEHICLES

TO: ALL CHEVROLET DEALERS


This bulletin is being reissued to correct part numbers and packaging information; the original issue should be destroyed.

New rocker cover gaskets and attaching hardware have been released for servicing vehicles equipped with Chevrolet produced small block V8 and 90~ V6 (200 or 229 CID) engines. The parts listed and the illustration on Page 2 can be used to service engines from current production back to 1960.

14082319 Viton Gasket (90~ V6) (2 req'd per engine)

14082322 Viton Gasket (V8) (2 req'd per engine)

14085816 Reinforcement Unit (2 req'd per engine)

Contains 4 - 14082321 Reinforcement
4 - 14082320 Stud
and 4 - 14051876 Nut

Torque nuts to 5.6 - 7.3 N-m (50-65 in.lbs.).

 

The '86 had studs - looked just like the picture. 1st I'd seen in about 35 years of SBC's.

 

first ive heard of them ..guess you learn something new everyday....

ive ripped down countless engines in the last 16 years ive been doing this hobby and cant remember one engine with this but like i said above learn something new all the time .....lol

just goes to show an old dog can learn new things...LMAO


:lala:

 

My 84 LG4 has the studs and retainers like shown in Apeiron's diagram.

 

Ditto here, 'cept an '85 LG4 f-body.

RBob.

 

I'm using centerbolts on the Worlds now, but I retained all those pieces in case I have another SBC someday with just the regular bolts and small washer.

I'm trying to get a picture in my head of what the Goodwrench 350 in the van has. I know I've snugged them up a couple of times while I had the hump off. I'm thinking they are the old, regular bolt & washer. That may be a candidate for installing the studs.

Makes you wonder if those who have them now, were originally built with them, or if they were put on later per the bulletin.

 

They were on my 85 from the factory!

 

Even if your engine came with bolts (most did- everyting I've seen used bolts) a conversion to studs is super-duper convenient. Things I like about it:

1. Gasket is held in perfect alignment while you drop the cover on

2. No chance of cross-threading the bolt and ripping the small valve cover bolt threads out of the head. This is VERY VERY helpful especially with aluminum heads which can be a nightmare to get the bolts threaded in straight.

I do all my motors with valve cover studs now. If you often take off the valve covers to adjust valves and such I would say they are just about mandatory.

 

I have no clue of the history of my donor car/engine between 1986 and 1999. For all I know, it had several dealer mods/recalls/SB's applied to it.

For instance, it had the little blower in the fender behind the battery to blow air on the carb when the engine was hot and off (which I transferred to the '82 receptor car). I've been led to believe that was part of a dealer-installed "anti-vapor lock" kit. However, I have also been led to believe that "kit" had an in-tank electric fuel pump, which the donor car did not.

One "issue" I did observe with the studs: Removing a cover when other things are still installed (A.I.R., AC, spark plug wires, for instance) can make it just that much trickier to remove/maneuver/install.

 

Whoa, thanks for all of the input, guys! I forgot to subscribe to the thread and I never received any notifications about the posts.

I think that I'm going with the studs, per many of your recommendations. I don't have an AIR pump or air conditioning, so maneuvering the cover around the accessories isn't much of a problem.

The '85 Vandura that I took my first set of '601 heads from had studs, by the way. This seems like one of those things that just varies between cars, so I guess nobody is going to question the "stockness" of my engine over valve cover fasteners. Obsessive? Nah, not me... .

 

You've got a 5.7 in an '86, for crying out loud...

 

lol

 

He said he wants it to look stock. You can't tell the diff between a 305 and a 350 unless you look at the casting code. So it'll still APPEAR stock

 

DuronClocker hit the nail on the head .

In actuality, I bought my car without knowing someone swapped in a 350... hence, I thought it was 305 too!

I guess I just like the whole "sleeper-ish" thing. I can pop the hood at car cruises and have it look stock, but when it puts down 13's at the strip it'll have people scratching their head. It's kinda like a challenge, especially with TPI... see how fast it'll go while still appearing like nothing's been changed.

 

I wanted to go for a sleeper look too, but I don't like my no-power-over-4700RPM intake, so I'm going to LT1 intake-and-head it. It'll be kinda cool to look at at cruise nights and stuff, but people probably won't assume too much. I really wanted to keep the idle nice and smooth with a mild cam, but the cam I've picked is a fairly aggressive cam for even a 350. Oh well, it'll be cool.

I'm thinking of just building the LT1 heads and intake and bolting it all onto a 350 block and dropping that in instead of keeping the 305 and seeing what she can do like was the original plan.

 

Understood. Except for the headers, you wouldn't know at first glance that my Camaro has been modified, either. The more informed might notice the chrome center-bolt valve covers, but shiny things are one of the more common "mods", and, of course, does nothing to make it run better.

Still, I kind of doubt that anyone would spot valve cover studs and say, "Hey, that engine's been modified!" In the almost 3 years that I've been driving my modified 305, I've had somebody ask me what's in it and be impressed that it's "just" a 305 exactly once - a couple of co-workers in the parking lot as I drove up one day, and guess what - they both drove Stangs.

At the track, more people would probaby wonder why it only runs 13's than there would be those impressed that it runs 13's. That's even true up at this altitude.

Hey, I'm all into the "sleeper" thing myself. No GFX, no decals; I resisted wide wheels/tires until a set was given to me by a fellow 3rd gen'r moving out of town. And, even though the '57 has a nice smooth idle and runs 13's, people still come up when the hood's open and say, "Oh, it's a big block. I thought you were running pretty well for a small block," (even though the track announcer says almost every time I'm running that it has a 396...).

With so many off-the-showroom-floor cars running 12's these days, we've got a lot of ground to make up before we start impressing people, modified or not.

Okay, I'll put the soap box back on the shelf now...

 

ya, what you guys said ....oh wait a minute...[scratches head looks at car]...never mind