I got a 96 civic non vtec with 9 lbs boost. Im in the middle of replacing my head gasket and I found out nobody around has head bolts. In the repair manual it says "If re-using head bolts..." so Im inclined to think they arent torque to yield.
I know its not a good idea to re use them, but is there a way to tell if they are still intact enough by looking at them? Any advice?

 

suck it up and wait it out till you get new OEM head bolts, you should have ordered them with the gasket?

 

9lbs of boost doesn't really mean anything, You need to order some ARPs.

 

yea, might as well order ARP bolts and be done with it.

 

They can be reused once, but they shouldn't be reused. Definitely get your hands on some ARP's - they're not much more than Honda head studs, and they're much better.

You could use a stretch gauge on the threads and see if they're still within spec, but you'd have to search for that spec. I don't know it off the top of my head.

 

Yeah I know in hindsight I should have pre ordered some. And I know 9lbs isnt anything to write home about, I just thought it may be important.

 

It's not that 9PSI isn't anything to write home about, it's that 9PSI has no point of reference. 9PSI from a T25 is a lot different than 9PSI from a GT60. - one will give you a 75-90hp bump, the other will shatter your sleeves

 

Oh, I thought maybe if it was a normal engine the used bolts may work, but the extra pressure would be too much.

I guess ill take my head to a machine shop and while they do that I can wait on my bolts to come in. By the way, how long should a shop take to resurface it?

 

The D series guys reuse the studs all the time with no issues. I have commented to replacing when head is ff and I got answers that the OEMs are fine to reuse..

so, take that for what its worth. If your boosting, ARP is the way to go with the extra clamping.

 

it all depends on how much work is in front of yours, first come first serve. c'mon man!

 

Wait and get studs or at least new oem bolts which will cost almost the same as studs. Sotkc LS studs arent very strong you can experience head lift when approaching 300hp mark on stock bolts and reused ones probably less.