holy hell so ol' Leroy Diesel sells ARP head STUDS (complete for both heads) for $180.... and I've seen them for over $550, on ebay.... ?? wow.

thanks for the links

 

sell sell sell but wait if you order today, you'll get a second PMD for free. same as it ever was..

IF the best means the cheapest price then Central Plains Diesel cant help you. If highest quality parts is what your after, they can certainly hook you up but dont expect walmart pricing.
Expertly trained staff and quality parts arent cheap and due to supplying half the nation with factory authorized parts and service, they cant undercut those whom they often supply!! hint hint


FWIW.. ARP headbolts or studs arent mandatory, but good insurance if your planning on cranking up the boost. Otherwise, OEM replacements will suffice..

What gaskets are you referring to?

Aside from head gaskets, and misc gaskets used for dissimular metals (aluminum intake, coolant cross-over, etc that bolt to cast iron cylinder heads, etc), there are literally no gaskets used during assembly.. Even the exhaust manifolds are assembled w/o gasket. All the tins, timing chain cover, coolant pump plate are assembled with RTV sealant, thats why they are such apita to remove often damaging the rocker covers in the process of prying them off...


Excerpt copied from my own factory authorized 'GM Light Duty Truck Unit Repair Manual' used for all 6.5L Diesel Engines (P,S, F, Y).
Rocker Arm Cover Installation
Clean the sealing surfaces on the cylinder head and rocker arm cover with carburetor cleaner or equivalent. Apply 3/16" bead of RTV sealant GM P/N 12345739) to the valve covers, inboard of the bolt holes. Refer to figure 66 (see attached). The sealer must be wet to the touch when the bolts are tightened.
Tighten valve cover bolts to 16 ft lbs...

Notice: Do not allow RTV sealant into the valve cover bolt holes. This may cause a "hydraulic lock" condition when the bolts are tightened, damaging the cylinder head casting.

 

you said "Avoid using gaskets when ever possible" I said to use the right gaskets where they belong. The valve covers do call for silicone, use silicone. But by that simple statement people could take it as use silicone everywhere and thats just not a good idea. Was going for clarity, you dont need to get all hoped up and defensive.

 

Leroy doesn't sell knock offs, they hold 30 psi just fine. No sense in over paying for the same parts when you can buy from an honest salesman that practices what he preaches

 

Not hyped or getting defensive. just dont want OP to go buy a complete engine overhault gasket set and then try to use them all.

 

yea they sell valve cover gaskets and stuff but if he is using a factory - close to factory manual it will set him straight.

 

so basically guys, don't bother buying the gasket set for the top half of the motor? just use RTV on everything except head gasket right?

I thought that rtv was used in conjunction with gaskets to offer the best sealing.

 

only time you use them together is at corners like oil pan, intake manifolds, front covers, etc. dont coat gaskets in rtv that ends up causing leaks. You will need gaskets for intake, turbo, and heads so whatever works best for you. I'd recommend pulling it apart and saving ALL gaskets then going into a gm dealer and finding OE replacements for whatever you removed and ordering a set of head bolts and exhaust bolts from ARP. but thats just what i would do if i was you.

 

Yeah ARP exhaust bolts would be good. ARP head bolts should be cheaper than the studs and is what I use in my higher mile engines.

If I build/rebuild an engine I do studs but bolts make more sense when the motor could come apart any day.