Curt@MrLed

iTrader: (107)

exactly.. also the car comes with torque to yeild bolts from the factory, not studs..
studs are stronger, and you can reuse them, as long as you dont overtighten..

KevinD

iTrader: (56)

think of it like this...

a head gasket when brand new has a certain thickness. once you install it, and properly torque the head studs down, the gasket gets "Crushed" into the little microscopic pores in the metal creating a strong seal. it is a "gasket" after all. typically the headgasket is metal (or part metal), and as i'm sure you know, metal isn't easy to deform.

so during this crushing process, the metal flattens out and fills all the little gaps creating a good seal and deforming the metal to do this. once shaped, the gasket is essentially "used" and wont be able to fill new holes or be reused.

in the process of doing the "1 at a time" head stud install, you are without a doubt relieving some of the pressure on the gasket in the centralized location around the removed stud. without pressure to keep the gasket in place, it is possible for the gasket to seperate from the seal it has created between the cylinder head and block, and essientially move a tiny amount, which is more then enough to destroy any seal the gasket had. additionally the gasket no longer has the ability to create a new seal. thus you can end up with a blown headgasket.

the good news through all this is that the head is extremely rigid. thus when removing the studs one at a time, you still have all the studs near the removed one holding the head down. thus most likely the headgasket will maintain its seal.

personally, if i am going throug the trouble to ensure i don't blow a headgasket by running higher boost, by replacing the headstuds. i'm going to take the head off and put a new gasket on, then torque to spec. that way i know the gasket is seated and sealed correctly, and the new studs ares stronger.

Kerr

iTrader: (18)

Okay, I understand that. But if you do only take one out at a time, will that really relieve it that much? I mean, there are 10 bolts holding it down in a pattern for the best seal possiable right. Is it really desgined that one loose bolt will cause a failure?

What if you over tighten (to an extent) all the bolts before doing the 1 by 1?

KevinD

iTrader: (56)

well, i guess you need to ask the question, if a single head stud broke when the engine was running, would the engine be finished?

also, if you over torque the bolts before taking them out, you are compressing the gasket even more, flattening it further, and therefor when you torque the new ones to spec, the gasket could very well be to flat to create a good seal.

i try to think from the worst possible scenario perspective for something like that. people will and do change them 1 at a time successfully, so it does work. i'm just not the one to follow their lead because i have a friend that has had them changed 1 at a time which blew a gasket.

DsmAwdTurbo

iTrader: (10)

Kevin we are eye to eye. Pull the head. Change the gasket get a new fresh seal and when the job is done right it will pay for itself in the long run. I dont think its that much more work. Although I like doing the work. I think that when a job is done 100% the first time the feeling of accomplishment and pride in work knowing that it was done right makes up for any of the time it takes. just my 2 cents. I have the head stud install along with my cams coming up. I have installed alot of other peoples crap and just havnt gotten around to getting mine in although I did blow my headgasket lol Mitsubishi replaced my head :-D it warped.

EvoDan2004

iTrader: (94)

ok i just pulled the valve cover off. i checked all my trq settings and everything is still in tip top shape. thanks to the people who helped me get it dont the 1by1 right way. may not be your way but it seems to hold up so far for me.

dubbleugly01

iTrader: (24)

it is a risk to do the 1x1 method, but too many have gotten away with it to say "it's going to leak, period". Like KevinD stated, if you break the seal between gasket and head/block, it probably will leak. But if you don't break the seal, no harm no foul. Start with a bone cold engine, do the one by one method, torque to spec., let it heat cycle and torque again. If the seal wasn't broken, you'll be ok. Chances are decent it won't leak.

I had spare gasket in hand when I did the 1x1 method, and if it leaked I was going to use that as an excuse to pull the head and have headwork done. It didn't leak, so I still have a spare head gasket. I think I changed them out about 5 months ago now, and for the past month I've been running 30#'s boost on alky. No leaks.

Markley02

Any write ups on how to remove the head?

ThirteenTwenty

I have a horror story for the 1 by 1 method!!!!! Customer came in with a blown head gasket, tellling me that he just changed to headstuds and did the work himself. Torqued all studs to arp specs. Anyway turns out that the head gasket didn't seal the proper way. Due to improper seal the head was damaged and had to be repaired at a very costly price! A head gasket is very vital to your engines life span. I suggest to anyone to do the job the right way or else you will end up paying double in the long run.

DsmAwdTurbo

iTrader: (10)

I would get the service manual cd's I actually got all of them off of ebay from the seller artbythelake They are quality. There are a few steps you have to do before taking off the head including taking the timing belt off etc. Draining coolant, draining oil, U can actually pull the head with the intake mani and exhaust mani bolted still . Its a bit of a process but its not that bad. If you have never done a timing belt or are not mechanically inclined (havnt done a big job yourself) then I suggest having someone that has be there with you when you do it. Its really not that big of a deal to pull the head.

-Anthony

Curt@MrLed

iTrader: (107)

update ?

SLVRNBLK

iTrader: (169)

I've had oil sepage for quite some time now in the area described above. I had the 1 by 1 done a few years ago. Going to do it right this time and have the head pulled. Installing new head gasket and a fresh set of ARP studs along with my new S1 cams