Opinions??????? Studs or bolts?????

Merry Christmas Guy's

I am in the process of freshening up my engine,
and am thinking about using studs instead of
bolts for the heads, my thinking is like this
a stud clamps, and a bolt holds??????

Am I thinking in the right way, or not?

Any opinions on this is much appreciated.

Another ??? for the guy's that use studs,
are there any header flange problems, with
using studs, do they get in the way????

Thanks
Dave

Studs are great for the main caps but not necessary or helpful for the heads unless you are running a big power adder or running nitro. They make pulling the head hard, especially in the car. Suggest you stick with bolts... good ones like ARP.

If you have head gasket sealing problems, go with the studs. You will be able to add an additional 10 - 15 lbs of clamping force with studs. Othrwise, if you aren't having head gasket problems, there is no real advantage. It could save a little wear and tear on the block head bolt threads, especially if you are doing a lot of on and off with the heads. Yes, header flange interference can be a problem with studs. On my small block, the stud nuts cleared my header flanges by about 1/16". Pretty tight.

I prefer bolts where is is ok to use them like on my mild builds. As was stated it is so much easier to get the head off in the car with bolts. Ron

I prefer studs, less chance of messing up the threads in the block, or distorting the deck while torqueing, because those threads are stationary during the process. Nitrous with aluminum heads, for most of my combos.

We had to toss a 400 block away after the 3rd or so re-build with ARP bolts because it wouldn't hold a head gasket any more. The deck was pulling up at the headbolt holes. Granted, it had been heavily decked, and sprayed mercilessly, but I always felt studs would have prevented the problem.

if your motor is 12.1 or higher,then i would stud it! thats exactly what is being done with mine,along with some other stuff,,,im spraying so i dont want cap walk,+ higher comp and spray its a must! Ryan told me with 700hp sb he built me with 11.5 comp studs werent necessary he was right,never had a prob with mine..

You can remove the studs before lifting the heads off.

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Studs are great for the main caps but not necessary or helpful for the heads unless you are running a big power adder or running nitro. They make pulling the head hard, especially in the car. Suggest you stick with bolts... good ones like ARP.

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