Retorqueing head bolts?
 

Hey all,

i have a question about retorquing the head bolts. I did the ones that i could get to without taking anything off,(2,3, and 6 cylinders, and all the ones below them under the exaust manifold) i got those ones to 125 ft lbs. I figure those ones could help a little till i get the rest torqued down this spring. Can i still drive it like this or should i finish them off.

thanks for any help.

You need to do them all. The reason you tq head bolts (and studs) down to equal amounts and one of the reasons its so important is because you need to hold teh head down equally, with out you will create "weak" spots in the head gasket.

ok thats what i just did the more i got to thinking about it i decided to do them all.

cylinder head torque specs

66, 89 ft/lbs +90 deg

doing them a 125 will not hurt the engine, but you will have to replace them, they are now T/Y

what does t/y mean

Torque to yield

It is the stress point for the bolt, once you go to that it is highly recommended that you replace if you ever remove the bolts or if the bolts come loose on their own

135 ft/lbs is common practice for holding down the head on budget trucks with high cyl pressure and yes at these levels do not reuse bolts.

Well i really didn't need to even retorque them but i decided it was insurance. I'm only pushing 28-29 psi of boost right now.

The bolts are pretty cheap, so no to worry to much.

I do the same on mine, just wanted to stress the point about reusing bolts, I have seen some pretty nasty stuff done to guys who reused.

ok thanks man

when i had stock bolts in my 12v i always went 130ft/lb, the headstuds im using now i torque them at 165 ft/lbs

wow thats alot.

can i suggest something??
My buddy who has a 96 is running this setup for the past 3 years now and has about 550hp to the wheels using stock head bolts.
You must do this in sequence. Take each bolt and torque to 90lbs. then go additional 5lbs on every bolt. wait and hour, go another additional 5lbs. wait an hour, go another 5lbs, wait an hour. keep doing this till you reach your goal. he got his up to 150lbs, it takes all day but its worth it. Now the reason why he waits a hour is bc he wanted the bolts to safely strech and set.
Like i said, this is purely his race truck. runs low 12's in the quarter on twin turbos. never had a problem. if you would like to contact him for more info i can give you his email address. very very nice/helping man. i go to him whenever i need help. he is a very smart when it comes to these motors. PM if interested
Nick

wow sounds like its worth it to me.

:argh:

thread resurrection
 

Sorry to bump this old thread up.. But I decided to use the above method since I cant turn a wrench 90 degrees in the E350 and the short block had to go in first.

I'm at 115 ' lbs now and I have two questions..

While torquing down, Ive been going back for a second round without changing the wrench setting.. Is that bad practice to recheck? Should I just hit each bolt once and move on instead of checking? It makes sense because you should get a bit more with help from the other bolts. But end result I'm not sure of.

And second. Should I continue higher up to 125 ' lbs? This is a 1990 converted to IC otherwise stock. But getting back to the bolts might be a big project after its together and running.

Thanks:choochoo:

Btw.. When I think about the factory torque specs and then another 90 degrees.:humm: Doesn't that seems brutal on the bolts instead of 5 lb increments?