ARP Head Stud Torque Specs??

[ALLBoostAWD]

I tore my head off to have it ported, polished, and cleaned up. In the process, i purchased some ARP head studs. I have searched for some good torque specs but came up empty. If anyone can help me with the proper Ft. Lbs so i can reinstall my head. By the way i am using a stock head gasket. Thanks guys.

 

[BISHILVR]

Here, maybe we can save this somewhere for reference.

 

[Polk]

That is for main studs.

Head studs are 80ftlbs.

Polk

 

[olmytsi]

I torque mine to 90. You will find figures from 80 to 100. I think 90-95 is ideal with moly lube.

 

[BISHILVR]

That is for main studs.

Head studs are 80ftlbs.

Polk

Ummm, no. I have the torque for the head, rod, and mains listed there, in that order. READ.

 

[defrag010]

haha whoa, buddy... you better be careful who you try and correct...

 

[Polk]

Ummm, no. I have the torque for the head, rod, and mains listed there, in that order. READ.

I stand corrected. I just wanted to make sure they got the right info.

Polk

 

[BISHILVR]

haha whoa, buddy... you better be careful who you try and correct...

And just what is that supposed to mean??? I dont know who polk is nor do I care, if you screwed up, then you will be corrected.

 

[sickfast2ndgen]

for what its worth, I initially torqued my headstuds to 80 ft-lbs with the moly lube. after about 1500 miles, i retorqued them to 80 ft-lbs. about 3000 miles later i lost the headgasket. pulled the valve cover and found that 3 of the nuts were only hand tight.

moral of the story, read the print at the bottom of the first scanned in image. 80 ft-lbs for moly lube, 120 for motor oil (the retorque). don't make the same mistake I did.

 

[cornbread]

for what its worth, I initially torqued my headstuds to 80 ft-lbs with the moly lube. after about 1500 miles, i retorqued them to 80 ft-lbs. about 3000 miles later i lost the headgasket. pulled the valve cover and found that 3 of the nuts were only hand tight.

That’s why you are supposed to run a tap thru the threads before installing the studs. When crud builds up under the studs it can cause it to back out.

 

[NDgsx]

I torque mine to 90. You will find figures from 80 to 100. I think 90-95 is ideal with moly lube.

Exceeding recomended torque will result in more tensile load and that *may* actually result in a reduction in clamp load.
If you feel the need for more clamp load get a set with undercut studs. Any vendor that stocks ARP can get them. I keep a set or two in stock. They cost more, but it's worth the piece of mind too me.

 

[sickfast2ndgen]

That’s why you are supposed to run a tap thru the threads before installing the studs. When crud builds up under the studs it can cause it to back out.

i did. it still happened.

 

[2-0turbo]

for what its worth, I initially torqued my headstuds to 80 ft-lbs with the moly lube. after about 1500 miles, i retorqued them to 80 ft-lbs. about 3000 miles later i lost the headgasket. pulled the valve cover and found that 3 of the nuts were only hand tight.

moral of the story, read the print at the bottom of the first scanned in image. 80 ft-lbs for moly lube, 120 for motor oil (the retorque). don't make the same mistake I did.

You know, unless I missed it, the directions with ARP head studs do not mention a retorque. I torqued mine the first time with ARP assembly lube to 80 ft-lbs as the directions say. I have about 1000 miles on my rebuild now and I was not planning on retorqing. They shouldn't loosen up. Thoughts?

Put it this way: we never retorque our main or rod studs. So why retorque the head studs? I think we think it necessary on the head studs since they are relatively accessible.

 

[sickfast2ndgen]

i had read on here or dsmtalk that it was a good idea. the reason being, if i remember right, was that the coefficient of friction on the threads would be improved (i.e. made more consistent across the threads being used) after a second torque.

that's why i did it. at the very least, if you do it correctly, you are not going to HURT anything.

 

[ldstang50]

sorry to bring back a thread from the dead guys. But I was torqueing down my ARP headstuds with 30W motor oil. I was on my 2nd to last nut and I sheared the nut and top part of the stud right off. I was torqueing them to 115ft/lbs. So now I have to take my head back off, order a complete new set of ARPs and start the process all over again. This was my 2nd time installing ARPs on my car and didn't have this problem the first time. Not saying ARP did anything wrong. I had a brand new torque wrench and was torqueing them down in the correct "clock" pattern starting from the center.

 

[Lunch_Box]

sorry to bring back a thread from the dead guys. But I was torqueing down my ARP headstuds with 30W motor oil. I was on my 2nd to last nut and I sheared the nut and top part of the stud right off. I was torqueing them to 115ft/lbs. So now I have to take my head back off, order a complete new set of ARPs and start the process all over again. This was my 2nd time installing ARPs on my car and didn't have this problem the first time. Not saying ARP did anything wrong. I had a brand new torque wrench and was torqueing them down in the correct "clock" pattern starting from the center.

I would give ARP a call and let them know. Who knows maybe a faulty stud?

 

[ldstang50]

I would give ARP a call and let them know. Who knows maybe a faulty stud?

Thats what I plan on doing later on today since they are 3hrs behind me. I'll let you all know what they say

 

[willsdsm]

ARP will sell there studs individually so you don't need to buy a whole set. if you can't reach anyone LMK I found out they sell the after I Had to buy an extra set I have some extras

 

[ldstang50]

Hmmm. I figured they would, but wasn't sure about it. I appreciate the info, thanks.
Since I have to take the head off anyways, I'm gonna get a whole new set. If this one broke on its first torque down, I don't want to run the risk of breaking any of the others on their second torque down. Aren't you suppose to be able to re-use them?

 

[willsdsm]

yes, I have had my head off 3 times with my arps and no problems Yett. I only go to 95 lbs

 

[90REkTSi]

I was reading VFAQ yesterday and it says you have to cut down part of the front engine mount or something like that to install the ARPs...is this really necessary? Do you also torque the head in steps? Also if i have some moly lubricant that i picked up at the local parts store, but its not ARP's assembly lube should i torque it at the 80 FTLBS or us ethe 30WT oil and torque to 120FTLBS? Sorry to hi-jack the thread but just had questions about the same topic...thanks!

Ha! I stand corrected went back up to read the FINE PRINT!!

 

[willsdsm]

for $7 you can get some arp lube from summit

http://store.summitracing.com/defau...earchinresults=false&N=0&target=egnsearch.asp


and yes I toquark in 3 steps

 

[Big Woo]

As far as re-torqueing goes, I have found some interesting things. Generally I do not need to re torque the studs. I used the specifications as stated by ARP, and the torque sequence listed in the manual. I usually use a three step method of 25-30, 50-55, and 80 ft/lbs.

Depending on which head gasket you are using, a certain amount of gasket compression will take place. I have found this to be most prevalent in the Cometic gasket. Please bear with me here, as this may be difficult to explain in words. If you have your studs and Cometic head gasket installed; have applied the provided ARP lube, preform the first torque sequence at say 25 ft/lbs. After you have completed the first sequence, go back to the through the sequence again at the same 25 ft/lbs setting. You may find that the center two stud nuts will have loosened and will no longer be at 25 ft/lbs setting, the next four stud/nut combonations out from the center(two toward the transmission end and two toward the timing belt) may have loosened as well but to a lesser extent than the center two. You should go through the torque sequence at the 25 ft.lbs setting as many times as necessary until there is no longer any torque reduction, before moving on to higher torque levels.

I have seen this to a lesser extent on the Mitsu 4-layer, and copper head gaskets as well. As the gasket becomes seated , and your torque settings get higher this potential problem will reduce to being almost non existent at the 80 ft/lbs level.

There are many reasons for this that may include but are not limited to things like head gasket compression, stud seating in block, frictional changes when torque is applied, and elongation of fasteners during the application of a clamping load.

 

[Ho0ked]

Ok I searched and was unable to find a clear answer to my question so now i'm asking yall.

96 Gst stock head new valves fresh from machine shop, 7bolt head and block original.

Cometic HG and arps. block clean NOt decked still in car, what torque for the ARPS?
and should I retorque them after some time driving and how long a couple runs? a couple days ? a week ?

Any advice would be a blessing MY first Cometic and I want it to work right .

 

[TSIfreek]

I would not use the cometic. Use the stock head gasket with the studs and will be more than you need. You will not benefet using the steel head gasket unless your boosting over 30 psi and cometics are even prone to leaking then. Guys run 28 psi on stock head gaskets all the time with out problems. Steel HGs are way over rated and cause more problems than good.