headgasket

[87gnttop1]

i have no headgasket issues but i want to install arp headbolts do i have to use new headgaskets or can i reuse the old ones i have about 250miles on these gaskets

 

[jarredsoon]

Do you know what type of headgaskets you currently have?

 

[87gnttop1]

felpro 9441pt

 

[rmar]

That's a negative Ghostrider..........

 

[hesermon]

"Torque to yield" bolts. That means when you torque them they stretch which means that when you take them out they are already stretched and don't "unstretch". If you reuse them you will NOT have proper torque and you have a real good chance of losing a head gasket. Don't try it, they're not that expensive.

 

[Squid4life]

"Torque to yield" bolts. That means when you torque them they stretch which means that when you take them out they are already stretched and don't "unstretch". If you reuse them you will NOT have proper torque and you have a real good chance of losing a head gasket. Don't try it, they're not that expensive.

Um, he is asking about reusing headGASKETS, not bolts. :biggrin:

I have heard it is safe to swap one bolt at a time, going through the torque sequence and doing the new bolts in 3 steps like you normally would. I have not tried it, not really sure I would. Depends on how hard you will be pushing your car. If it was a driver with stock boost levels, I would think it might be okay to do one at a time.

 

[jarredsoon]

Ya you would probably be ok like Squid says if you change out one bolt at a time then follow the torque sequence, but I'm no expert. Why are you upgrading the bolts of you do not have any headgasket issues?? How many miles on your current gaskets, maybe just change them anyway depending on the style of driving you have. If you just putz around then no worries but if you have 100k on these gaskets and you drive like me then I would put now ones in with the new bolts.

Jarred.

 

[BlackBandit]

If it's not broke, don't fix it.

 

[Squid4life]

If it's not broke, don't fix it.

"If it ain't broke, fix it til it is!!!" :biggrin:

 

[BlackBandit]

"If it ain't broke, fix it til it is!!!" :biggrin:

That's a good one. I almost pee'd myself!

 

[hesermon]

Um, he is asking about reusing headGASKETS, not bolts. :biggrin:

I have heard it is safe to swap one bolt at a time, going through the torque sequence and doing the new bolts in 3 steps like you normally would. I have not tried it, not really sure I would. Depends on how hard you will be pushing your car. If it was a driver with stock boost levels, I would think it might be okay to do one at a time.

My Bad! Misread the thread. sorry, maybe this helped someone else thinking of changing head gaskets and thinking of trying to save a buck on the bolts.

 

[Squid4life]

My Bad! Misread the thread. sorry, maybe this helped someone else thinking of changing head gaskets and thinking of trying to save a buck on the bolts.

No, you are absolutely right, I was just giving you crap.

 

[87gnttop1]

well im going to run about 26 pounds its my summer car my other summer car is getting boosted and will be done by may

 

[turbofabricator]

There is (was) a service bullitin on reusing Turbo Buck head bolts. They claim you can. I have reused them before in a pinch and the car ran 10.70's with no failure. I still replace them, but not sure if we REALLY need to.

Now to answer the original post.......Sure, one at a time and it'll be fine. Then after letting them sit for 20 minutes, loosen each one individually and re-torque to full torque value. Do this one at a time, too. This will help "set" the bolts. If you want to see how much they move, mark the top if the bolt with a silver Sharpie pen and then see how far it moves when you loosen and retorque. It is amazing how far they move.

 

[Squid4life]

Then after letting them sit for 20 minutes, loosen each one individually and re-torque to full torque value. Do this one at a time, too. This will help "set" the bolts. If you want to see how much they move, mark the top if the bolt with a silver Sharpie pen and then see how far it moves when you loosen and retorque. It is amazing how far they move.

Good point and good info on the sharpie/ moving about. Never considered that...

 

[BlackBandit]

well im going to run about 26 pounds its my summer car my other summer car is getting boosted and will be done by may

What set up are you using? Cylinder pressure (which is what you need to worry about) isn"t the same at 26 psi stock turbo stock heads as 26 psi and upgraded turbo/heads. If you're really worried about the headbolts/gasket holding up while running a bunch of boost withyour current head/bolt setup then why chance not replacing the head gaskets?