No need to drain the coolant. I did mine one at a time with the egr in place. Definitely not an easy job but do able. Just get a few various straight 3-5 inch extensions and you can do it. No swivels. I think I had to remove a 2 inch coolant pipe going into the head to get a good torque on one but that was it. You might drain a little for that but that's it.

 

Its not too bad. As mentioned the one on the passenger side midway when your torquing it on you can hit that coolant line/fitting and if your not paying attention it can skew your torque because you can press up against it with the torque wrench.

Careful on the back ones as well, if you try to one hand with the torque wrench when setting torque it will be off compared to the others. You have to do your best to reach back there and apply counter torque with your other hand so they can get as close as possible to the other ones.

Just IMHO when installing the studs, once they are all swapped out at a torque close to the stock head bolts, and then gone over to the final torque value recommended by the head stud manufacturer take a break. Let them sit for a hour or two. Then come back and go over them one more time. I did this to mine and when I came back after a 1000 miles to recheck they were all still good.

 

yeah, about that counter torque, I see most people dont do that. I have always done it just to make sure the socket dosent come off the nut but never really thought about it making a different reading.
I guess yall dont loosen or break torque , when doing the final torque. I assume there is enough ultra lube still under the nut to give a correct reading with out reapplying it.


did you guys actually clean out the holes in the block. I mean if the stud goes in easily why does the bottom of the hole need to be cleaned out?

 

Save your time you don’t have to clean them. Once they’re torqued to final spec you don’t have to recheck at all, ever. But most do, as did I, just for safety concerns I guess. No need to drain any coolant.

Do this on a COLD engine not a warm engine

 

Agree that a retorque if done right initially isnt necessary.

One word of caution on the ones that have some oil in the bolt hole, if there is too much in there it can form a hydraulic lock and prevent ya from threading the stud down all the way. I would let mine sit for a quick minute then go in and then loosen then back in a couple of times. Only reason I can see for cleaning out the old bolt holes is getting rid of any oil that may be in a few. Not necessary if the person doing the install pays attention.

 

^^^^^ lots of good info here, apply anti-seize to both sides of your washer before you install the 12pt nut.

 

Would it be worth the effort to vacuum out the bolt holes to remove any liquids? A shop vacuum with a piece of small diameter hose attached should suck any oil out of the hole easily. You could even do this if you had to run a bottom tap down the threads.

 

Yep you sure could. Would be quick and easy to get all the oil out. I didnt bother with mine but it couldnt hurt.

 

do your exhaust side studs stick up out of the head more or were you able to thread them down more into the block? I see pictures of them sticking out a little more and wonder why they are longer.

 

Well I got the ARP2000 install completed. That was a pain in the butt. I torqued to 100lbs , then 115, then 130. Then after a little break I went back over them at 130 and got just a little bit more turn of the nut on them. After a day of setting I wend back and checked them all and none of them moved so I called it good. I checked all the tappet lash and they were all dead on so I was glad I didnt have to do any thing to them.

All my head bolts came out with equal amount of force. I did buy extra ultra lube but didnt need it. I had just enough.

Drove it around town and all ok ( knock on wood). Its about time for a oil change so Im going to drive it a little bit more and change the oil and filter.

 

how long did it take you?

 

Congrats, now try not to blow it up.

 

Another congrats going your way:thumbsup:. It's an 'uncomfortably enjoyable, frustrating at times, glad I got it done' sort of thing.

 

about 11 hours. I was not in a hurry but start to finish it took that long. Mainly because of the rear of the head. Hard to work there. I did it split up into 3 days. A 5 inch lift and 35 inch tires didnt help. I used a step stool, and had to climb in and put my knees above the radiator and on the air box and lean over. Its one of those things that you could do a lot faster the second time.. But sure hope I dont have to.

 

ar, how long did it take you to do the job from start to finish ? Thinking of doing this in the near future.