<VV> Upper Head Stud - Help!

[Mark Durham]

JAY, sorry to hear about the trouble you are having. You aren't the first,
however. :):)

I think you will have to split the bock in any situation. You could also
have the holes welded up and re tapped to std size, but that would cost as
much as another block, if you can find one.  Getting another block may bring
other problems to the table you did not have, even another set of bad
threads.  So, pick your poison. Sorry.  It helps to walk away for a bit and
clear your head.  At least its not back in the car yet! :):)  Mark Durham

On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 1:54 PM, Jay Pitchford <jay.pitchford at gmail.com>wrote:

> I've listed this on CCF as well, for those of you that visit both sites ...
>
> I have a complete rebuild in progress on my 140 engine ... split the
> block, turned the crank, new forged pistons, rods, all new bearings,
> new .030 full-fin jugs. The only thing left alone was the mild Isky
> cam. The heads were reworked by Michael Leveque. All tolerances were
> beautiful and the engine was going back together smoothly. It was,
> that is, until we put the passenger-side head back on.
>
> The PO had replaced the passenger-side head due to a dropped valve
> seat shortly before he sold it. We discovered when taking the head off
> for our rebuild that he attached the replacement head with nuts that
> had a knurled face. This ate into the aluminum and made removing the
> head a serious challenge. To get it off, all six top head studs were
> removed.
>
> I ordered six Clark's .003 top studs, but upon installation they all
> flexed badly and wouldn't reach 30 ft-lbs; one spun freely and one
> pulled out completely. I ordered .006 studs, getting all five GM NOS
> studs they had left in stock and one Clark's .006 stud.
>
> My mechanic put 1/2" heli-coils in the spun and pulled holes mentioned
> above, but he tried to re-use the original stock studs with Locktite.
> He ended up pulling both heli-coils back through and stripping the
> threads in the pulled stud hole.
>
> Is it time for a new block? If so, I think I might cry. I already have
> waaay too much in this, and now we may have to disassemble everything
> and start over. Any and all ideas would be appreciated.
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