purcashing 1987 toyota supra soon, YAY! HG questions inside.

[SideWinderGX]

Originally Posted by IHateHacks

ARP head bolts vs. studs

On many street-driven vehicles, where master cylinders and other items protrude into the engine compartment, its probably necessary to use head bolts so that the cylinder heads can be removed with the engine in the car. For most applications, however, studs are recommended. Using studs will make it much easier to assemble an engine, with the cylinder head and gasket assured of proper alignment. Studs also provide more accurate and consistent torque loading. Heres why. When you use bolts to secure the head, the fastener is actually being twisted while its being torqued to the proper reading. Accordingly, the bolt is reacting to two different forces simultaneously. A stud should be installed in a relaxed modenever crank it in tightly using a jammed nut. The stud should be installed finger tight then, when applying torque to the nut, the stud will stretch only on the vertical axis.

Studs are much more difficult to install with the engine in the car, but are stronger and less prone to stretching. Head Bolts will be easier to install with the engine in the car, but are not reccomended for high-boost applications. On the 7MGTE engine, the most common source of headgasket failure is due to the factory head bolts stretching and failing, therefore, when replacing a headgasket, ARP hardware is a must.

clear as crystal, thank you. now i just gotta worry about what is in the car already, and how much it would possibly cost to fix. i presume fixing it beforehand would be much cheaper than fixing an already blown headgasket