I just recently put a cylinder head on my 91 firebird. I torqued the bolts to 65ftlbs as specified. My question is this...I didn't torque them in steps as I found out later I was supposed to do, is this a problem? The engine is still being put back together so should I go back and re-torque the bolts before I finish up? What will happen since I didn't torque the bolts in stages? I used the torque pattern specified by GM but did them all in one shot to 65ftlbs. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

It could affect the accuracy of the torque readings and probably wouldnt evenly compress the head gaskets properly.

I'd get new head gaskets and do it over again.

If you're really too far along you can just hope its good enough, and you have a good chance of it being good enough... but you'll always wonder - will today be the day my head gaskets fail because I didnt torque it properly? You've probably got a lot of money tied up in building that motor... taking an extra 3-9 hours to do something properly isnt a big deal over the next 10-20 years of that motor's life of reliable use in your vehicle.

 

Well I'm not too too far along. I only just bolted on the intake and throttle body. I guess since the intake gaskets have never been used I can just leave them on and use the remaining head gasket and torque the bolts as required. As far as the longevity of this engine I'm not expecting much. It's got 150,00 miles on it and I was only trying to do the bare minimum in order for it to be driveable until I can replace the engine and trans. This is a rolling project that will end up being a knight rider replica so in all honesty what happens to the 305 in it now doesn't really matter because it will, eventually, be replaced by a 350. However I do Agree that after all the work I've done thus far I'd hate to have it undone so soon after finishing the repair. BTW since I have already replaced the head bolts once do I have to do it again? Thanks for the reply!

 

I wouldnt bother replacing the headbolts this time.