Tried to assemble the engine tonight, went good untill we tried to torque the head. All nuts torqued but two pulled threads out of the block and never torqued.
ARP head studs, torqued the nuts to 70 lbs/ft. After taking the head back off, we removed the two stripped studs and found that the stud was fine but the block is what is messed up. The studs will thread back into the block hand tight so there is still threads there enough to hold the stud in place. I can think of two ways to fix it but i don't know how good they will work. Heli-coil, and some kind of "stud loctite" suposedly will lock the stud in the block and won't come out.

What can i do, the engine will be seeing a good bit of boost, the main reason i went to the studs and so that the treads in the block would be ok as many times as I took the head off. Ha, I didn't even get the head on and the block is already messed up. Any Ideas?

 

Replace all of the threads in the block with "Time-Sert's" (best) or Heli Coil's (OK) Use the correct locktite when installing the threads and do not rush the process.

 

dont torque the studs to 70ft/lbs, just the nuts...
Just put the studs in like "wrist tight" or about 20ft/lbs...
Like superchicken said,TIMESERTS are the best followed by helicoils,But I wouldnt use anything but TIMESERTS.

If you dont think you can do it,a machine shop shouldnt be too expensive. Its really simple to do...

 

timeserts

 

can you buy a timesert kit from any places local . i know they can be ordered online....

 

my block was timeserted and it pulled 1 of the studs out..and the work was done by a very well known good shop..

I gave up and bought a dart block..

 

Sounds like faulty studs?!?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spoonek9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sounds like faulty studs?!?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds like someone didn't follow the instructions.

 

Followed the instructions, didn't torque the studs to 70 ft/lbs, just the nut that holds the head on. I did all the studs the same and only two did this, the other 8 were fine. I'm going to have to check to see if any local places can do the timesert.
If i have the tools I could do it myself. The only thing I was wondering is how do you tap a hole that deep? Some kind of extention for the tap?

 

Block is at a machine shop, and I'm related to the guy doing it. Says he can fix it two ways....one is with a threaded aluminum sleeve similar to a timesert but keeping the same material as the block so it won't expand at a different rate then the block. The other is a helicoil, and I talked to ARP about this, the guy said the only time a helicoil will fail is if installed improperly. So we will see what happens.
Thanks

 

no dont helicoil. especially on the headstud part.

 

IDK the guy at arp said it works fine if done right, But what does he know, he only was a mechanic for honda's indy car team for 20 years and they used helicoils on their cars (for headstuds) and they didn't come apart, but they only rev to 16,000rpm so yea, i guess the helicoil wouldn't work on my car.

It's probably getting the aluminum sleeve done. I feel a lot better doing it that way. The guy doing it knows what he is doing. I'm not worried.

 

hope it goes well for you

 

Just curious, did you measure the ARP stud and compare it to a new stock head bolt.

 

yea, i measured before i ordered and after i got them. I hope it works out good for me also. I guess i will find out. I'm interested to see the block after he fixes it. We will see.

 

Use a RECOIL same as helicoil but a little better quality and do them all,and as far as how to tap the hole just find a 1/4" socket that fits the tap and it will go in the hole,and when threading the replacement threads in just barely snug them with the supplied tool and I meen barely, if you over tighten it will cause the replacement threads to go of the thread track that you tapped and then you will be
screwed.

p.s. A little tip is to use masking tape to tape up the deck surface to prevent
metal from going into the block.