heres the deal, i have my .020 marine gasket, and an o-ringed head...but my 12mm studs wont be here til next week and i have a long weekend to get it back together. im getting kinda desperate to have my truck back on the road.

does anyone see a problem with putting the truck back together using the stock head bolts, and torquing them properly just to be operational again (ie ride to work), then when the studs come next week i can replace the bolts 1 by 1 with the studs and torque them down properly as well. id just hate to waste this 3 day weekend by not buttoning the truck up and getting it running.

when the truck is running again im gonna have the boost turned down a bit anyways, and i wont have the comp box back so there will be less fueling anyway.

 

I dont see anything wrong with it. I replaced mine 1 by 1 and have had no problems.

 

I wouldn't, but that is just me!!

 

You could probably get away w/ it. Make sure your head bolts are not stretched and run a bottom tap the holes before you put the head back on. That way your studs will go down far enough and you might not have to grind out any of your valve covers. But definetely make sure your bolts are not stretched, and take it easy until the head studs come in.

 

that was the plan, the block is already bottom tapped for the studs, and the truck will be limited at 30psi, as well as no extreme fueling because my edge comp wont even be in the truck next week when i drive back and forth to work.

 

Without the comp you'll be throwing overboost codes and the defuel will take care of the boost. When I was running w/o a box or programmer it was tough to get over 30 lbs,.... but I kept on trying

Git-r-done

 

does anyone have any comments saying yes or no to putting the head on with stock bolts? i just dont wannna ruin the thicker marine grade gasket or the o-rings by doing so.

but by at least getting it running to where it can idle...i can do the cooling system flushes to get all the oil out. (i figure its gonna take filling it 4-5 times with cascade and water to get it pretty clean)

 

If it were my truck, i would wait till you got the studs, i know that the stock head bolts strech and i dont think that it would be worth risking ruining another head gasket. Maybe you could get everything back on and ready to go so when you get the head studs you could just put them in and flush the radiator. It is just to risky in my opinion.

 

I think id wait also. seems like 125 ft lbs on studs vs. headbolts is a different value. Studs will hold the head down alot better. its alot of work to re assemble it. id hate to do it twice because I was hasty. JMHO

 

YOu could always just temp it together with new stock bolts. Much better than the used OEMs, and pretty cheap, too...

jh

 

I would wait till you get your studs.

 

head is on, has 12 or 14 stock bolts just holding it in place ( not torqued ), i got sensor hooked back up, and the fuel lines. tonight ill get the studs in, and torque them, get the turbo buttoned up. then get the valve train back in and do the first heat cycle warm up then re-torque. it will be nice to drive to work again, rather than hitch a ride with the parents.

oh how glorious it is to be young and dumb (and lucky i work close to home)

 

Great to hear that TJ. Can't wait to see and hear the new beast.

 

its alive...it still has oil in the coolant...but its alive.

im gonna drive it to work tomorrow, 2 mile round trip, then let it cool and retorque the studs. also tomorrow night ill be doing a complete cooling system flush.

then ill drive it till next weekend then torque one last time. for some reason the truck idles better now than it ever has, no shakes, smooth as can be.

 

Might be because of slightly less compression with the thicker gasket. I notice the SO's almost always idle cleaner than my HO. When I do my head this winter I'm going to do a marine gasket for that reason as much as any. Less compression should help the head gasket live longer too. Of course a lot of it could just be the improved flow in the head. Did you do a cam while you were at it?