POP goes my head gasket, help needed quick

[Hansen01]

so i was goin outa town at 35 lbs of boost and i hear psh POP! so i think hmm must have blew an intake clamp off, but then the motor died and boy was i wrong, got out and u know how you can see a hair of the headgasket usually well it was gone on the front passenger corner of the head with anifreeze around it, so my questions are ARP heads studs, cheapest place to buy em and what you need to do to get them to fit. i am going to get the head plained this time and gone threw also, kinda need my truck these days as it is harvest season and it wont even run smooth right now itl start(maybe) run and then die, as a pretty good chunk of the headgasket appears to be missing, thanks in advance guys, looks like i have a long week ahead of me

[collegekid]

Dang bro, sorry to hear that, pdrdiesel has decent prices, or go to http://www.mightydiesel.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=108&products_id=1011 with ARP studs, you have to chase the old threads out and run em a bit deeper, i dont think you need to do that with the mighty diesel studs....theyre not as strong as the arp studs, but youre not pushing twins....yet

[skilletky]

you also have to get yer rocker pedistals machined with the arp studs.

[Mark Nixon]

If you "need" the truck that bad, then quickly toss another gasket in it, with a fresh (once torqued) set of bolts and stay off the damned throttle.
Get through the "need" period and you'll have the cash to do 'er up nice.

I have a set of "virgin" head bolts I'll give you, if you decide you need them.

BTW, if you even THINK you're going to upgrade and run more boost, better 'O' ring it.

Mark.

[Hansen01]

you also have to get yer rocker pedistals machined with the arp studs.

how come?

[Hansen01]

im not gonna go crazy with this one mark i just orded arp headstuds, but this is the second time in two years, so i figure i better do it right this time thanks for the offer mark, will hopefully tear it apart tonight
and thanks for the site collegekid

[Hansen01]

are the later 12v studs the same as ours?

[Mark Nixon]

are the later 12v studs the same as ours?

Yes.
I believe the pedestals need machined to clear the nut/stud combo, but I may be wrong.

Mark.

[dazedandconfused]

All the 12Vs need the pedistals milled from my experience.

[Mark Nixon]

All the 12Vs need the pedistals milled from my experience.

Okay. Sure.
But WHY??
Is it because the stud/nuts hit the rocker cover, or some other reason?

Mark.

[BC847]

The ARP studs are too short to have full thread engagement using the stock/OEM height rocker pedestals. With that, you must machine approximately 0.20" (don't quote me on that number, it may be longer / READ the ARP instructions) off the tops of the pedestals where the nut and washer rests to get the needed space. DO NOT give in to the temptation to run without the associated washers.

Had you bought A1 studs instead, you might have had to clearance a little of the webbing in the tops of the valve-covers (The A1's are a little too long). NO milling of the pedestals required.


Why people get sucked into that "Got'cha" just because of the ARP brand name is beyond me.

[dazedandconfused]

They hit the valve cover or rocker cover depending on what you want to call it. You can clearence the covers with a die grinder as well but I've heard it's a pain.

[BC847]

They hit the valve cover or rocker cover depending on what you want to call it. You can clearence the covers with a die grinder as well but I've heard it's a pain.

Takes all of 5 minutes each. It is easily done during the stud install.

Going the ARP route, you've got to send the pedestals to your local machine shop, wait for them to get around to it, and pay $50 ~ $100 for their time. THEN you can finish the stud install.

THAT is a PITA in my book.

[BC847]

Further, DO NOT give into the temptation to not bottom-tap the existing bolt holes in the block.

When the block is built, the factory uses taps that have a substantial taper to thread the holes. The substantial taper allows the factory to get many miles from the tap before having to replace it. As such, the threaded bolt hole works just fine with the stock/OEM bolt. Using the studs, no matter ARP or A1, you have to bottom-tap the bolt holes so as to have the necessary thread length in the bolt hole, in order to properly engage all the threads of the stud. The stud assembly will not have the designed strength if the correct thread engagement is not realized.

Why spend $450 ~ $500 on studs just to cut a corner by not buying the $25(ish) tap, and spending the 45 ~ 60 minutes to do the job, and then have the fastener assembly fail.

There are a number of folks who claim this step isn't needed, IMO, simply because they chose not to do it, and have been lucky since. It's crazy.

[Hansen01]

Thanks guys, appretiate it, so even after u tap the holes is it still nessesary to mess with the pedestals?