Individual head studs

cretin

cretin

Senior Member
Hi guys,
Sorry if this is a basic question, but my searches have yielded no results.
I have a '37 flathead that I picked up from the machine shop today, and am just about ready to assemble. When removing the head studs, I broke 4 of them. Since I am keeping the factory heads, I was going to reuse the factory studs as well. Is there anywhere I can get studs individually? I only see whole sets for sale. All 4 are 3" long. Any help is appreciated.
 
I hope the machine shop checked the deck for level? Thousands out there used. Suggest a listing in the wanted section. Or someone can PM you , they should be darn near free. Removing the broken ones can be testing at times.plenty of helpful threads on removing pesky broken studs.
 
Mac's Antique Auto Parts. In the past they sold individual studs. Don't know about today but their website should spell that out.
 
You can order 4 oil pump studs for the BB Chevy, stud will fit and comes with new nuts and washers. Also has shorter bottom threads (.750") if necessary over the heat-crossover area.

Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. Mfd by ARP, part #230-7003.
 

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I'm not suggesting Cretin is doing any thing incorrect but I have always bought new studs when rebuilding a flathead. Can the old studs be reused with without any problems? I know a set of new studs is expensive.
 
Thanks for all the info guys.

Ronnie is correct. The studs were broken of during removal before the trip to the machine shop. Now I'm looking to replace the items that were previously broken.
 
Hi Cretin, Can I suggest you put in a full set?
The reason behind this is that you should get consistency of stretch when you torque your heads down. If you replace just a few, the new ones might stretch more than the old (or less?) I'm not trying to say you have to, just that you might feel better about it if you replace them all. Just trying to help.
When cleaning out the holes, put a grinder cut down a good old stud and use that instead of a tap. The original studs are a rolled thread, and you do not want to take any material out of the block. If you can find Rumbleseats info on head studs it would be good info to follow. He covers the water leak thing as well.
 
Van Pelt has some really nice studs MADE IN THE USA. Of course, ARP are super quality but pricey. Van Pelt's are really nice and priced right. You have to know which length you need, by the way.
 
The best studs in the world are original Fords, especially seasoned ones.. For stock heads, as Flatjack & Walt suggested, Fred Wilner at SSO. Fred's are NOS, the best there is. I bought them individually from Fred.
 
Bluebell said:
Hi Cretin, Can I suggest you put in a full set?
The reason behind this is that you should get consistency of stretch when you torque your heads down. If you replace just a few, the new ones might stretch more than the old (or less?) I'm not trying to say you have to, just that you might feel better about it if you replace them all. Just trying to help.
When cleaning out the holes, put a grinder cut down a good old stud and use that instead of a tap. The original studs are a rolled thread, and you do not want to take any material out of the block. If you can find Rumbleseats info on head studs it would be good info to follow. He covers the water leak thing as well.
Click to expand...
Excellent advice.
 
Bluebell said:
Hi Cretin, Can I suggest you put in a full set?
The reason behind this is that you should get consistency of stretch when you torque your heads down. If you replace just a few, the new ones might stretch more than the old (or less?) I'm not trying to say you have to, just that you might feel better about it if you replace them all. Just trying to help.
When cleaning out the holes, put a grinder cut down a good old stud and use that instead of a tap. The original studs are a rolled thread, and you do not want to take any material out of the block. If you can find Rumbleseats info on head studs it would be good info to follow. He covers the water leak thing as well.
Click to expand...

Hi Bluebell,
Thanks for the input.
I understand the possibility of the studs stretching at different rates, so my question would be this. If I torque them all to spec, and re-torque after the first few heat cycles, and they all even out to staying at spec, then does it really matter if they stretch different?
Only thing I can think of is maybe the new ones take longer to settle to torque, which could effectively result in the heads being torqued out of sequence, and the head not being seated completely correctly?

While I'm not new to engines, I am new to building a flathead. From the research I've done, I've read that because of the rolled thread, new studs don't fit quite as well as the factory studs, as a result you should use your old one if you can. Of course everyone has their opinions, and I also could have gotten bad info. So, I appreciate everyones input who has more experience then I.

Thats a good tip about using an old stud to clean up the threads.

I'll look up the other info you suggested as well.
 
Hi Cretin, I am like you, An old mechanic building his first flathead right now.
I agree with what you say except that 1, if you keep re torqing they must eventually settle.2, any reasonable quality stud will have a rolled thread, not a cut thread.
I have cleaned out the threads on my block and the nice looking new studs I bought from Roy Nacewitz screw in nicely with my fingers. I am pleased with the result.
I have read most of the info from Rumbleseat more than once. there is some really good info there that he left for us to use.
 
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