I finally got down to the point that I can remove the headstuds from the head and block. They are ARP studs that I had installed at the honda dealership. I know they need to be torqued down pretty good, but my question is were they torqued down to much??
When I went to remove the first stud, the front stud drivers side, I was attempting to use a 3/8" craftsman drive ratchet a 3" extension and a breaker bar and it broke the extension clean where it meets the socket. I know that they need to be torqued but damned is that excessive?

 

I can't understand the reason for the studs. Everyone who I know who has used them had head gasket failures. OEM bolts are the way to go.

 

The studs are hard to remove because they where 1st torqued to the block, then has the nut torqued on the stud. The stud is bottomed in the tapped hole, they don't like coming back out.

 

Wow this is going to be fun.
When I break them all free will they come out in one piece?
Billman I have my original head bolts that I am going back to when this project is over.
It will be an Inlinepro 3mm hg and OEM head bolts.

 

The stud will come out in 1 piece

 

let us know if your head was warped...are you going to get that checked?

 

I will check it when I get it off the car. It shouldn't be warped as the car was never overheated.

 

The head can be warped by over torquing the studs or torquing them in the wrong sequence. Also, when installing the studs in the block, they should be torqued to a very low value. If memory serves me well, about 15 ft-lbs. So they should come out without too much effort. It sounds to me that whoever installed yours spends too much time at the gym.

 

The high head gasket failure rate of those using head studs has to do with impropped installation. Both of my builds have used studs with the stock gasket and I have never had a problem. On my first engine, before going with a built block, I used the stock bolts with the Cometic 3mm HG, and could never get the gasket to seal. Fortunately, it leaked external to the block.

 

whoa whoa whoa...

are you saying that the head bolts should be torqued in sequence to a low value, such as 15 ft/lb, and that's it?

the manual, states 22 ft/lb in sequence...and then two 90 degree turns after that, in sequence.

when my bolt was at 22 ft/lb and after i turned it two 90 degree turns...it measured to somewhere about 105 ft/lb.