I have a situation where I want to swap engine lifters from steel to polished alloy, so I undid the 2 head nuts on one engine and that went ok, the head studs/nuts were HEAVILY coated in anti-sieze
On the other engine, even though I personally installed new head nuts, with anti-sieze, when I tried to remove one of the head nuts, the whole stud started winding out of its bottom hole
I know in general not to do allow this , as silt will may drop into the hole, and stud can not be properly re-installed, as the silt will cause improper bottoming out
All this leads me to inquire how the studs may be installed initially such that they do not wind out if the head nuts are undone?
Have read on this forum that head studs should only be installed “finger tight”…so that suggests a strong thread sealant or locking agent would be needed to allow nut to be removed without stud unwinding?
This seems to make sense to me, as I have seen the male and female threads down in the block can become corroded, causing stud breakage, or even making the whole block unserviceable
what if any substance should be used for this purpose?
how tight should long head studs be installed in a 4.2 block?
Tony–Not answering your question, but are you talking about retrofitting the nice-looking “cabinet handle” type castings in place of the ugly stamped steel cheapo parts fitted to later engines? The two systems utilize different studs IIRC and the later stamped ones are thinner. Are the studs that will now be used of the proper length to allow retrofitting? I thought about doing it years ago but didn’t because I thought the existing stud lengths would be inappropriate.
I did one, and it seemed to fit ok, as there was extra washers on those studs, but I maybe they are not quite as extra long as the longer studs on the earlier motors.
I will measure the protrusion, its possible the domed nut is not engaged with as many threads
Keeping the studs all the same length is a good way of straight edging them for depth when seated, Graphogen as good as anything for the lower threads, and an old stud filed or ground into a bodkin point is great for clearing silt in the threaded pocket…
the drawback with most anti-sieze products in the stud hole is it wont stop the stud winding out,
which is my original problem!
I do want something that prevents corrosion, as coolant seeps into the threads, rusting them and making getting them very hard to withdraw, especially if they are rusted almost all way thru the stud
I want something that seals, and locks a bit, (but not too much), two candidates are;
Most of the thread locks I know give way to heat, 50/50 water/corrosion inhibitor changed every two years always comes out clean and sludge free in my car, and anyway, how many times will you be taking the head off in the future, and if a stud comes out, no real problem…