TR2/3/3A Cylinder Head Bolt question....

[karls59tr]

I have the cylinder head off with the bolt studs still in place. I am thinking of removing the studs to see if the correct length studs are in their correct stud holes. One particular reason for doing this is that going by the picture in the Moss catalogue the No.10 stud at the rear of the block,the lower stud, is a 5" stud and the N0.11 stud across from it is 5 3/8" stud. Because there are hairline cracks on the block around the No.10 stud I am wondering if a 5 3/8" stud was mistakenly inserted into the No.10 stud hole instead of a 5" thus causing the cracking? When the studs are first inserted into the block how tight are they supposed to be
"before" the head is put on and the head is torqued down?

 

[RJS]

Studs should only be hand tight at best. When torquing the head, the nut pulls the stud up against the threads in the block, thus clamping the head in place

Bob

 

[CJD]

That crack is caused by lifting the block with a chain on the studs, without the head installed. That puts a leveraged load on the stud hole, causing the crack. That is why you only see it on the front or rear stud holes, and always toward the water jacket. Having the wrong length studs will not cause a crack. At most it would strip the threads if it were not threaded into the hole far enough.

 

[mctriumph]

The factory studs can be re-used if you want to save a $. But the smart money, after 60 years
of abuse, is to get new ARP bolts/nuts. Be a good mechanic and use anti seize on the threads
Snug is good when setting them dont get silly..... The cracks tell of abuse and 2 of your studs
are at least questionable....
Mad dog