Not a good idea IMHO.

 

i got 272 cam and cam gears arp headstud installed on my car w/out replacing the gasket 3 weeks ago no issue

 

Did them on my IX over a 1 1/2 ago running 30psi no problems at all.

 

The method of installation and the longevity are two aspects that need to be part of the discussion.

If you drain coolant from the motor and instal the head studs one by one in the order of factory torquing and then replace coolat and heat cycle then retorque I could see this working for a bit.

I would still not personally recommend it.....just my $0.02

 

Alot of people say dont do it. I did it almost a year ago. I must say I was nervous about it, but its been nothing but high boost for me since. No issues at all.
Good luck!

 

I'd have to say that 90% of people that do one at a time dont have an issue. When we did my timing belt/Cams, springs, and retainers job we pulled the head with a new gasket. It made the job 100% easier mainly because of the Hondata IM Spacer Gasket went on at the same time

 

you guys who did the one by one method still runnin okay? im thinking about doing ym cams and studs soon too.. btw, is there a write up how to install cams and studs? im too lazy to search.. busy at work. thanx!

 

when people say it didn't work for them, the complaint is an external oil leak on the block. I've yet to read a thread of someone doing the one by one method and the head gasket taking a dump where coolant gets in the oil or you end up overpressuring your coolant system from a blown headgasket.

Again, the only complaints I've read where oil leaks. I did a thorough search here before doing the one by one method, and I've been trouble free for about a year.

 

you can do it, but its not the proper way to be done.

the problem is when you take one out, you must put the other back in EMEDIATELY AND TRQ IT correctly, and then retorque after the first heatcycle. even then its a 50/50

 

Can you elaborate on this a bit more? One of my friends is having an oil leak issue and it's covering the entire block with oil up to the head. We thought it was a return or feed line to the turbo, but he says he has ARP headstuds but it still has the original head gasket and was done last year.

 

Sounds like oil is getting pushed from the head, this same problem happened with my car when I did the headstud replacement without removing head. The stock head and block surface isn't as good as it could be and synthetic oil finds its way out very easily. The bad part is once it does find its way out it usually won't stop until it is cleaned and resealed completely.

Bottom line it can be done but as said many times it isn't the 100% correct way of doing it. Its just a gamble, some win and some loose. I lost and had to do it the right way after some time.

 

and most likely 3/4 of the people replacing the studs don't even need to do that. everyone says its a safety factor but i've never seen a failure of the stock studs. unless your running crazy power (and i'm on a 35r with meth at 29psi ~ 500 whp on stock studs), i don't see a reason for replacing them.

 

the search I did was about a year ago, and I spent a good 1-2 days reading threads about the 1x1 method and failures. I'm sure it would take even longer now to do the search, as several threads have been added for sure.

When I searched, it seems most were having oil leaks somewhere on the intake manifold side of the head, never saw a thread about a leak on the turbo side, and covering up the backside of the motor that faces the firewall. I've always had a little bit of oily residue on my valvecover around the oil fill cap, and I wrote off most of the "my 1x1 headstud job now leaks oil" threads to the fact that maybe they were getting a little blowby around the oil fill cap or the rubber seat for the pcv valve, and that's what they were seeing. Regardless, I didn't see a single thread that someone pump coolant into the oil or overpressured their coolant system from a blown HG. There was one thread, but it ended up with a broken ring land also, sure signs of detonation induced damage, and not from the 1x1 method. Like KevinD said, most people who do it (me included) don't even need it to begin with.

 

so where is the 1x1 method? I've been searching all day. I'm going to do this today or tomorrow and having my valve cover powder coated white