Thats the problem. ARPs are TOO hard. They are chromoly, which accepts almost NO heat. SO they dont grow and live with the engine properly like the stock bolts do. So at full operating temp, the actual torque with the ARP's is insane. And you are driving with an overtorqued head gasket. It literally destroys the gasket. When it cools, you now have slack. Its only a matter of time with this cycling before the head gasket blows.
ARPs are great for certain setups, but not usually for aluminum block and aluminum head. Can you see how ARP's coupled with a spongy 3mm would cause the gasket to blow in a short time?

 

^kinda of exaggerated there my friend.

what do you think the oem bolts are? forged aluminum? no way. they are hardened steel. and the steel has different properties from the aluminum just like the arp's.

the "growing" you speak of is not as pronounced and different when comparing arp's to oem. not by a long shot.

 

Uhm, steel and chromoly steel are night and day. Not exaggerating, just explaining it so that normal folk can understand, not gonna get all scientific. I build engines for a living, what i spoke of is a known issue. Do some research.

 

i build engines/trans/complete SCCA vehicles for a living as well. i have my research done. there is no night and day difference that will effect these motors. i mean, if you heated the engine to 260 or so, maybe you would see some shit happen. but no-one in their right mind will let that happen. the temps would literally need to get that high to start warping the extremely thick aluminum deck to start diverging enough "scientifically" from the ARP stud. yeah, 8740 is a bad-ass alloy, but the oem bolts are hardened steel with a yield strength of almost double the aluminum surroundings as it is.

So, while the ARP is obviously a harder stronger bolt/stud, the point at where the arp and oem begin to differ is after the oem bolt broke..... so there is no point in comparing the two in terms of metal stretching when who cares how much the aluminum expands when the head bolts snapped. lol

basically, the hardened steel oem bolt will not "grow" as you peak of at the low temps like the aluminum will since its melting point is in fact 1,000 to 1,300 degrees higher than the aluminum. the steel will become pliable FAR later than the aluminum block/head. the oem aluminum will distort from heat before the oem steel bolt does. so why not use the higher grade ARP and have added Tensile strength from detonation and higher compression levels to be safe? it doesnt effect the engine under operating temps or even "high temps", so why miss out?

now, thicker gaskets with any stud/bolt have shown numerous times on this forum to fail with ease. if what you speak of was actually true, there would be plenty "ARP Warped my block" threads as well. but there arent, because its just not happening.

im speaking from actual hands on, driven, pushed, race use data. i have no idea what you are testing or where, but your info is grossly exaggerated like i said before. in 400 degree operating temp engines maybe the difference would come into play. but thats unlike anything in this forum.

 

*sigh*. Its been proven about 1000 times over on THIS very site. That every car with ARP's has issues. Like, needing to be retorqued, blowing gaskets, finding gaskets totally destroyed, pulled threads in the block etc.
Since your so much smarter than honda, can you please explain to the masses WHY honda didnt use a stud and nut approach on this engine?
Or why the manufacturers who DO use stud and nut approach use a steel stud of smaller diameter than if they were to use a bolt?
The bolt allows everything to "live" as it runs, and travels through varying hot and cold cycles every day.
Chromoly studs have ZERO growth, which is not harmonious with the engines design.
I build and drag race aircooled engines also. Can you say the same?
One of our big issues is on this same scale. Aluminum case, iron cylinders, aluminum heads.
What happens with too large a stud, or chromoly studs?
The studs refuse to expand with the engine, an overtorque condition then arrises. The cylinders push into the head and leave a compressed area. Over a short period of time 20-50k miles, the heads end up being loose. A "retorque" is necessary.
You seeing a pattern yet?
This happens in any engine and when a builder is actually a builder, and not just an assembler like yourself they GET this concept and know how to build high horsepower engines with longevity in mind juuuuust like the manufacturer.
Have you noticed the trend? Every recognized builder i know of, who REALLY knows what they are talking about, builds the best honda engines with...... STOCK HEAD BOLTS.
Do you think this is limited to just hondas? I build more engine types than you can shake a stick at. Guess what works in them all.... NOT arp's.
ARP's have their uses and one must know what those are. For the s2k, they are NOT the optimum choice.
Just like adding deck to an engine with a thicker head gasket, is NOT the optimum choice. It is only done by those who dont understand engine dynamics at all.

later dave

 

i stopped reading at "smarter than honda"...

honda uses their oem bolts because they are perfect for the oem setup. no big surprise there.

but with high boost and compression from all sorts of modifications, the arp will outperform the oem bolt. /end.

 

Proven wrong by everyone who has ever built anything substantial. Including myself.
Acting childish = fail. Have fun installing ARP's.

 

^lol....... Riiiiight....


you should call IP, and CFT, and S2King and tell them they're doing it all wrong.

 

Compare 1000 hp constantly torn down drag motors to street longevity motors, thats the way to win an arguement.
ok im done.

 

not all IP cars are full 100% drag cars, not all CFT cars are full 100% drag cars, not all LHT cars are full 100% drag cars, but they will run the ARPs over oem on their setups. S2king is a motherchucking BEAST on the other hand!

btw, i argue with those i dont like. on a forum of fellow s2k owners, i call it debate. but whatevs.