Long story short I sold my built b16 block to a friend about two years ago and put the motor and turbo kit into his car. It has been running just fine but I realized a while back that when installing his cylinder head onto the block that I didnt use the headstud washers... cause they were still stuck in my head lol.

So, we are gonna turn the boost up and retune(new manifold) and want to put the washers back in. Can I pull the cams and undo one stud at a time and put the washer in without having to pull the head and replace the headgasket? Or should I even bother?

 

DO NOT undo one stud at a time, as that is a good way to warp your head. Loosen each one a little bit at a time (like 1/6 turn) in the pattern shown in the shop manual until they are all loose. You want to do this in several steps so that one part of the head isn't bolted tight when another part is loose. The idea here is to keep fairly even tension on the head at all times so that you don't warp it. Once that's done, remove the nuts, add the washers, and retorque the nuts in several steps up to the correct torque.

 

Anyone else have any opinions?

I didnt want to have to replace the gasket and pull the head completely.

 

Anyone?