What excatly do they do? How do they work? and well a kit from a second gen fit on my truck?

 

Studs replace the stock head bolts. They give you more clamping force on the head gasket with the same torque. This is because they use nuts on top of the head with a much finer pitch than the threads down in the block.

A 12 valve kit will work. I've read that with some of the kits you need to do a little grinding on the valve covers to get them to sit flat.

 

thanks i didnt kno excatly how they worked. might need to invest in a set after i get everything back in order.

 

fearthedeere did u give up on selling your truck and decide to put it back together? were do find studs for the 12v?

 

Any of the vendors can set you up with studs. You can get the ARP set from nearly anybody who deals with ARP. PDW (a site sponsor) has the best price I've seen on the ARP's.

 

i havent totally givein up on sellin it im just tired of it sittin in the barn all pathietic lookin so im gonna give it my best shot on tryin to fix it.

 

BTW if i do stud my truck will that eliminate the need for oringing? id rather not pull the head again or pay to have the head pulled.

 

It does not eliminate the need for o-ringing. It will make the headgasket live longer and give it the abitlity to hold more boost, but o-ringing and studs is better.