lol I have always heard to replace head bolts. I guess its a personal thing

 

Well, I do have limits. I probably wouldn't reuse them a third time.

 

head bolts are good for 1 retorque at the most... after that swap them out for ARP's that will probably last a lifetime. I had headgasket failure when putting on new RT's a few years back, traced it down to the headbolts not clamping the head down correctly. one side for sure had been pulled apart previously by myself and I dont recall if the bolts were mixed up or not prior to the new head swap.

also fwiw, ARP's ran $75 from summit, new ones from dodge were ~$65. If you do swap them, get a bottle of 30wt oil and dip the treads prior to the install and torque to 85 ftlbs.

 

ok heres my big question. The machine shop guy said I would have to waste a head gasket and torque the heads down. He said that was needed to check piston to valve clearance (probably for push rod length too I would assume). I don't really want to waste a torquing on my new bolts just to yank them back out again. Could I use the stock bolts for that? I don't really see why I would need another hg after that but I guess it squeezing down could make it goofy.

 

If your testing with them, use the old bolts, they will be fine for that. also get your headgaskets from summit racing. they are 1/2 the price as the dealer and are the exact same gasket...spoken from experience...

edit... when I had HG failure, I bought the arp bolts & gaskets from summit... and I got to go to Reno to pick them up

 

ok wonderful. I actually bought a set off amazon that was cheaper then summit by like half. However now that its getting bored they are no good. The machine shop guy was suppose to order a gasket kit so it should have all that good stuff in it. I hope they have part numbers on the hg's so I can order a new one after we use the one for testing.

 

Check rockauto out too.

Best way i've heard to check P/V clearance is to mush four pieces of modeling clay on the piston tops, then torque down the heads and then remove them. Gently peel off the clay and measure the clay indentation with a good caliper.

 

Ugh Steve, are you sure about the TQ #? I torqued mine to 105 ft/lbs...

 

Yeah the dude is gonna do it and show me how or let me do it and watch to make sure I'm doing it right. Either way I'm gonna make sure its done right. He's gonna help with the push rod length checking too. I need to call him again I keep forgetting

 

100%... I 1st torqued the ARP's dry to 105, then reconsidered after chatting with an ARP rep. when I retorqued them I backed them out 1 at a time and did the 30 wt oil dip, then went to the 85 ftlbs. I put about 40k on them w/o any problems after setting the torque to 85 ftlbs