What do you guys put on the head bolts when reassembling....

[Bens65fury]

....Do you use thread sealer, RTV, oil, nothing, or ???

Also do you put anything on the head gasket like red high tack, or copper, or nothing.....?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[67Monaco]

Nothing screws up torque readings like crap on the threads. And nothing breaks bolts like goop in the bottom of blind holes.

 

[BJS racing]

i put a torque wrench on the bolt and tighten to proper specs! Nothing on the bolts unless its an ARP with their lube and make sure you use lightly. Factory torque specs are set with bare clean bolts and threads with nothing on them.

 

[commando1]

If reusing the head bolts, I thoroughly clean them up until shiny and use a light oil.
The lime green 440 I recently pulled the heads off to use on the NYB had thread locker on the bolts. WTF?
That left me wondering...

 

[Bens65fury]

Thanks Guys, I really appreciate it. Might get the drivers side done tonight. Then on to the pass side. The things we do for relatives....LOL

 

[moper]

I know technically the manual does not say put oil on the threads - but I've always been taught and read that torque specs are with straight 30wt oil on the threads. I would not recommend not running any oil on them but that's just me. They don't need sealer, silicone, or anythig else. Just a few drops of oil if it's factory hardware. if it's not, use the fastener manufacturer's recommended spec and lube.

 

[Wildaugust]

I don't use anything with my head gaskets. I just torque the head bolts down in sequence and to specs in three steps, first to 40 ft/lbs, then to 65 ft/lbs and finally to 85 ft/lbs (or whatever the specs actually call for for the engine I'm working on). I just used those numbers for an example.

In the past, I have used oil on the bolts, but there have been times when I haven't used it.

For intake gaskets, I use Gaskasinch or similar adhesive on the head side.

 

[65sporty]

What kind of head gasket? composite just put on, MLS depends on manfactuer, copper needs sealer

 

[Wildaugust]

Well, just speaking for myself, I prefer the Fel-Pro no-retorque head gaskets. I've always had good luck with them.

 

[Bens65fury]

Well, Guys, I got the heads back on. Went really well. The heads were straight so no problems there. Per your advice I only put oil on the head bolts. I did notice a piece of paper in the gasket kit box that said to put thread sealer on the bolts that go into the coolant passages. That has me concerned a little I must say. The Felpro gaskets were metal on the block side and blue "other" material on the head side.

Now on to the intake! I know that those bolts should and will get thread sealer. But do you put anything on the intake gaskets? They are metal and have this bump that goes throughout the gasket. I guess it gets crushed when torqued down. Do I need to put rtv there also? The previous set didnt have any on it. And I suppose the foam gaskets at the front and rear of the intake need some RTV just to hold them in place, yes??

Thanks again for all you help.
paul

 

[commando1]

Paul, pretty much the consensus here among the Best & the Brightest, myself included I'm proud to say, is that on the intake, you put a PAPER gasket in each side of the valley pan and goo on all 8 sides of paper

I don't recall any foam gaskets.

 

[Bens65fury]

Commando,

Attached (if I did that correctly) is a picture of the valley before the original gaskets were removed. There is no valley pan on this motor. It had 2 metal gaskets on each side between the intake and the heads (visible) and foam/rubber gasket to seal the front and back of the intake to the block. You can almost see them. And that is what was received in the Felpro gasket kit. Also there is no sealer/RTV on the metal intake gaskets either. So....."assuming" that the kit is correct....um, not sure what to say from here. I guess maybe a thin coat of rtv sealer on the gaskets and some on the bolts that go into the coolant passages. Yes??

Paul

 

[commando1]

I'm so embarresed..

SB.
Sorry...

 

[commando1]

Ignore 100% of what i said.

 

[Bens65fury]

Ignore 100% of what i said.

No problem Dude!!

 

[moper]

For small blocks I like to use the Mr Gasket Ultraseal performance intake set. It's thicker and soft and it seals quite well. Better IMO than the factory designs. I use RTV in the corners and the end rails rather than the cork ends. Nothing on the ports or coolant passages. If you use the stamped steel 273/318 intake sets I'll use a very thin "skin" of RTV on the ports and coolant passages. 340/360 haskets are composite like the felpro stock type head gaskets. So no sealer used on them.