I don't know tightening the bolts ninety degrees twice gets the value way above 57 ft lbs. I use an old torque wrench with a pole to get it to the proper specs.

 

My concern with teflon tape on the head bolts is that it will affect the torque readings. But I guess if the torque procedure "by the book" has been used without issues, then that's what I'll go by. Did you ever get a response from him about what procedure he recommends?

Eric

 

Stick with what is in RAVE, lightly oil the bolt threads and do the initial torque to the right value, then do 90 degrees on all bolts and a final 90 degrees on all bolts.

 

Not yet, I am going to email him though... He seems to know what he is talking about though and understands metalurgy better than LR..."By the book" has only a vast history of failing headgaskets even at less than 40,000 miles... I am sorry.... but thats a Fu$cking big bunch of crap...from a bigger buch of idiots..It unexceptable for any car or truck for that matter to fail like that at 40,000 miles much less 100k...$40,000.00 and catoshrophic failure....WTF.....

 

the rave is a guide..not a bible....remember the idiots who wrote it ..I would agree with chongo as uneven pressures on aluminum heads and aluminum block with steel liners is a disaster waiting to happen. Its a terrible design..Just my 2 cents..

 

Exactly. There may not be such a thing as a "better head gasket", but there may be such a thing as a better torque procedure. It will probably take a week before I get the heads back so hopefully you'll hear from him. I'm thinking if I turn those 3 longer bolts 135 degrees and the others at 90 degrees, that would be close to a uniform procedure. But if I'm wrong, then I may be doing this all over again.

Eric

 

i am in the same boat as you..my engine is stacked on my workbench and will be visiting the machinest later this week...history dictates that the book deos not solve the HG problem as it keeps happening after you do it there way... I think i have nothing to loose by doing it different..and by someone who actually sounds like they know what they are talking about...I will run this by my machinest as well as a couple other engine builders to see what they say... will let you know..

Thanks Chris

 

The old man, mechanical engineer by trade, told me almost exactly what Chongo wrote. The metals expand at different rates and scrub the H/G until it disappears. Don't know if Chongo is right about the studs. When I get to have the fun, I plan on ARP stud kit.

 

I was going to do the same until i read robbinsons blog as well as chongo's post about.."not using head bolts. It has something to do to there no strech nature as well as how close and deep to the water jacket they are. It is thought that they will actually pull a crack into the block as they are stronger than the block and heads them selves. Again, the weekest link will fail...

Chris

 

Just dropped my heads off at the shop. I showed him the scratches on the head from the dowel pins (Guess the mechanic had a hard time getting the heads back on) He said some of the scratches were right at the edge of the combustion area on one of the cylinders and he is going to take the heads down .002" He also commented on how it looked like the heads had been cut as there were swirl marks in the head and the surface was rough. (He showed me some of the heads he did and the surface was smooth as glass)
I asked him about replacing the freeze plug on the block with one of those expandable ones and he said it was not a good idea. So I ordered a few from AB. Just incase I do it wrong, I'll have a couple extra.
I also asked him about the torque procedure and how the long bolts end up at a lower reading than the short bolts. I mentioned maybe taking the longer ones to a 135 degree turn instead of 90. His reply was it's not a good idea. Since they're stretch bolts, it may weaken them if turned too much at once and I'll be doing this again sooner than later. So unless someone has tried a different procedure, think I'll hold off on being the guinea pig!
Anyhow, I should know how bad (or good) the heads are by Friday.

Eric