Please elaborate on what the procedure is for preparing the block for head studs.

 

All that is really required is cleaning out the threads. You have to get all of the oil etc out of the hole and threads. I would us brake clean to clean the holes after removing the all the oil etc. Put ARP moly lube on the stud and hand tighten it in the block. By hand tighten I mean using a allen wrench or t handle to hand tighten them, don't crank them in with the long arm of the allen wrench.
Once you apply torque to the stud it will not back out, this is why they only need to be hand tight. If there is oil in the bottom of the whole you will not seat the stud properly and they will loosen up.
It is not easy to properly clean the holes out with the head on, that's the problem.

ARP calls for 70 ft lbs of final torque. With new studs that have not been heat cycled you are supposed to torque each on to I believe 85 ft lbs first to pre-stress them. Back them off and torque to 70. It seems to be a consensus that 70 is a little low and I have to agree. My studs were still very close to proper torque, maybe 1 or 2 were off just a little when I checked them.

IMO the 1 on 1 method can be done but the holes have to be cleaned properly. The studs should be torqued to 85 and backed off and retorqued to 70 ft. lbs as per ARP. The car should be run to operating temperating, allowed to cool and then the entire torque procedure should be performed to bring the torque up to 80.

 

So how do you clean all the oil out of the holes w/ the head still on the car?

 

i find it kind of strange that would design a car that runs close to 20psi stock to have issues with head studs. i can under stand if we were running 29 to 30 psi then prob would have issues but for the most part everyone runs about 25
bleeding to 21 or 20. i think most manufactures build there vehicle's and tune them to about 80% of max. i feel that one of the main reasons head gasket failures or stud strecthing is detonation. i have been on the fence also on if i want to head studs. i am curently running about 24 psi right now with alky to help keep the detonation out of the factor.

 

this is a great question. We did the same things on hondas. Everyone said buy them as there only 100bucks. But i never saw a stock one go bad. Honestly I never even heard of any first hand experance, just hear say. Not saying it does not happen, but it does sound like alot of my friends friends dads buddys friend says you have to use them. First hand problems would be sweet to hear about.

 

Although it would be great to have extra insurance, it seems like there's a high risk associated with it by doing the "one at a time" install method. I certainly wouldn't have peace of mind shortcutting a headstud install.

 

Well, it seems as if we have come full circle. Headstud installation is obvioulsy a VERY big deal and needs to be done properly. Baisically, I you would think Mitsu would throw some decent head studs at our motors due to 19psi of boost from the factory. Hell, the newer models run even more(friend of mine reported peaks of 23lbs and he was stock). Maybe its just me being weary of the 1 by 1 install and the constant need to recheck tq values. I am a perfectionist and I would probably check my tq values once a week for the rest of my life with the worry that they might be loosening up. This would be a big headache to avoid if we knew the stock headstuds were up to par. I have seen a couple instance of guys on stock headstuds running big boost(27+psi) and they haven't had any problems. Ugh, decisions, decisions. It baisically comes down to do I want to risk screwing up my perfectly good headgasket to "possibly" prevent a problem that might not even be a problem to begin with.

 

good thread. personally i would not do the 1 by 1 method. i would not feel safe doing it that way. i would rather do it right the first time around then to possibly have a problem later and end up having to do it the other way anyways. in my evo i am running 24-25 psi on the stock turbo , head studs and gasket. and have no problems. it has been like this about a month after i bought the evo and have had zero problems. but when i do my cams i will be putting in the head studs and all with the head off the car, for "insurance" like a lot of people say. a saying i kind of go by is "might as well do it since i'm in there". even if you get arp hs's then the "weak" link would be the stock head gasket. i know this from plenty experience with 1g and 2g dsm's which i have owned and still own a few modded 1g's. the stock head gaskets can take some abuse but if you feel you need arp hs then you should invest in a aftermarket head gasket also. just to give an idea of abuse they can take, stock 1g run around 14 psi and the stock headgaskets didn't let up on me till 27psi on a 60-1 that i have on it. mind you i also have arp hs on it but was running a stock head gasket for different reasons of my own at the time. good gaskets that we use are cometic, hks or the mitsu mls (multi layered steel). just my opinion in all of this. also another good question is this: a lot of people on here also say you need to replace the stock rod bolts also with arp's if your around the 350whp mark, has anyone had a problem with them breaking on their cars? i understand if your highly modded and have dug into the bottom end already then to go ahead and replace them but personally i have never had stock ones break if running a "stock" bottom end on any of my dsm's either.

 

Buschur's RS still has stock head bolts and the car is boosting high 20's psi.

 

FYI, the stock EVO headgaskets are not composite like the DSMs. They're multi-layer steel like the JDM ones available for the DSMs.

 

I believe the con-rod bolts are for guys who want to push the rev range envelope(repeated 8k+ rpms). Good to hear about our headgasket being tougher than the 1g's. This was/is my suspicion from the beginning. I know on the 1g and 2g this type of procedure is normal. But just like with our headgasket, we already have a really good one to begin with. Could it not be possible that Mitsu gave us much beefier headstuds as well?

 

That's the hard part. Compressed air works but you will make a mess. It's not that easy to get in there with a rag to wrap it around he blow gun.
This is one of the reasons I don't like doing them this way.

For those who are questioning it. I don't think it should be done with the head on for just a little extra boost. I also don't think people should push the stock bottom end to 400 whp. It's is going to cost more in the long run when the bottom end lets go then to build it up first. Once you take the head off you have to replace the bolts so you might as well stud it.

 

The conrod bolts are nothing to write home about. But I agree that you will not stretch or break on unless you abuse them. (over-rev).
The gasket is nice being metal but the sealing layers are not impressive IMO.

 

My experience is with past DSM's and after taking my 96 Eclipse GSX to Watkins Glen roadcourse a few times I ended up lifting the head and weakening the gasket. This likely happened after 25-30 min of hard laps at 18-20 PSI and the car got hot and started to get some detonation. Honestly it doesn't take alot of abuse if you run it hard to cause the head bolts to stretch which will give you a leaky headgasket. Oddly the car was fine for daily driving for over a year and finally I opened the head up and installed a metal headgasket and ARP's and never looked back. The car was rock solid boosting 20 PSI all day at the road course after that and never had any issues with the headgasket since. I would say high boost and road courses are bad news but quarter mile runs are somewhat easy on the car even if you are a few PSI higher. You are also likely running race gas or a mixture so detonation is not likely if you are tuning carefully.

 

It is worth the extra insurance for being cheap, cept depends where you go to install them.... When I did mine, I got mine done at Pruven cause I was having my new turbo tuned and they said I should put them in and the head was already apart but was charged 200 for head studs and 400 for rod bolts. I got ripped off hard. Now on my 05 I want to get them done but don't want to pay a ton for it... Anyone in MA or RI that would meet up and install them that is good at it? Gil from Evo-NY would do my head studs but not rod bolts due to not owning a shop and wouldn't want to risk a bolt coming loose and destroying my motor without insurance of a shop.

If someone could help me out PM me please...