Head bolts

Tony SFl.

Tony SFl.

Senior Member
A lot of discussion about torque settings for head bolts and breaking same at 55 pounds. No one ever mentions stripping the threads in the block at 55 pounds.I assembled my engine after a valve grind and the last bolt disaster. Stripped the threads a t about 45 pounds. Had to tear the whole job back down. Helicoil did the trick. How many people have stripped the block threads ????? , Now I hate the thought of having to remove the head if the it has to come off. Tony
 
WELCOME to the Land of Old Fords!

Are you talking BOLTS OR STUDS?

If it is bolts, they are not original to the engine and if so, may be someone installed bolts with not enough thread engagement?

This stuff is more then 3/4 of a Century old and we do not know where it has been and who has been working on it.

Usually, if you have had an engine apart and the studs out and got everything back together and torqued up, the next time you work on it, you should not have a problem BUT there are no guarantees.

This is not a good thing when it happens but it does. Actually, removing the head to install a heli coil is not too bad. I like to install new hardened studs that usually have better engagement in the block.

Lets hope you do not have this problem again.

Chris
 
Last edited:
CWPASADENA said:
WELCOME to the Land of Old Fords!

Are you talking BOLTS OR STUDS?

If it is bolts, they are not original to the engine and if so, may be someone installed bolts with not enough thread engagement?

This stuff is more then 3/4 of a Century old and we do not know where it has been and who has been working on it.

Usually, if you have had an engine apart and the studs out and got everything back together and torqued up, the next time you work on it, you should not have a problem BUT there are no guarantees.

This is not a good thing when it happens but it does. Actually, removing the head to install a heli coil is not too bad. I like to install new hardened studs that usually have better engagement in the block.

Lets hope you do not have this problem again.

Chris
Click to expand...

I agree. the grade 8 or chrome molly studs have a tighter thread fit in the block and are worth the extra money. Some grade 5 studs are a very loose fit-not good.
 
Not to be a horses xxx. I grew up in the motor city. Ran a Medium Maintence Company attached to the 9th division in WW2. Never did we stud down a head. We always bolted down the head. So why so pickney unie about head bolts. Almost anyone connected to automobiles knows head studs are used to stud down a head. Now thats that. Tony
 
Tony, I just replaced a stud on my engine that was stripped. For 20 years my engine didn't overflow once but after replacing a head, I had foaming problems when loading the engine. Not an overheating problem - just frothing at the cap. When I tried retorqueing the studs, the first one (adjacent to the distributor) just kept turning. I used one of the new(er) 1/2-13 studs rather than a HeliCoil and it worked like a charm. It looked like 80 years of water/antifreeze getting into the threads finally corroded/eroded enough metal to not hold torque. The stud actually looks fine, but the block threads were shot. I'll probably have to do others in the future.
 
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