head studs

[dhen]

The threads in my block on the front passenger side head stud got messed up and now I can't thread my head stud down all the way. It gets in most of the way, but the last 1/4 inch is impossible. I've tried using my old head bolts to work on it and it just strips them out. I bought a tap (m12 1.5) and I can't get that to work. This block is pretty hard...

Anyway, I'm using ARP head studs. If I have one that sticks out 1/4 higher, but torque everything down right, does this matter?

I swear my car is cursed. I've had so many things go wrong that I'd never even imagined.

[boost_boy]

The threads in my block on the front passenger side head stud got messed up and now I can't thread my head stud down all the way. It gets in most of the way, but the last 1/4 inch is impossible. I've tried using my old head bolts to work on it and it just strips them out. I bought a tap (m12 1.5) and I can't get that to work. This block is pretty hard...

Anyway, I'm using ARP head studs. If I have one that sticks out 1/4 higher, but torque everything down right, does this matter?

I swear my car is cursed. I've had so many things go wrong that I'd never even imagined.

Though I'm sorry you're having some troubles with your motor, I encourage you to deal with that issue the correct way. Take the head off and deal with the stripped issue the way it was intended to be dealt with and that's with a tap. Oil that thread with WD-40 and take your time with the tap. And don't use no cheapy-cheap tap or you'll find yourself in a world of hurt trying drill out a broken tap as it will make you want to get rid of everything. If you follow my advice, your problem will be solved. If you rush, then I look forward to providing you with a refreshened block and I know you don't want to go that route, so please be patient with these set-backs.

[float_6969]

As Dee said, you need to pull the head, get a HIGH QUALITY TAP, and fix the threads. Remember that you're dealing with cast iron here, and cast iron is HARD. There is a reason they use it for engine blocks....

[s13drifter88]

worse is a tap is made from tool steel and drilling it is more than a pain. Ive made many things out of tool steel and to say the least i can be a pain to work with. I use it for grinding my own bits for lathe working and Ive also used it to make right hand thread bolts for use as stud extractors. When purchasing a tool like this it very important to get one from a quality manufacturer like snap-on or mac. the manufacturing, tolerancing and harding processes are very stringent. you could buy one of these from snapon.com I have the huge proffesional mac set myself, works great.

[sjbsuperman1425]

wait..is it the front passenger side head stud? Mine stuck up a little more than the others and it was fine..but if its clearly stripped thats a different story as mine went down tight all the way..

[D_Stirls]

The stud at the front on the intake side of the engine will sit up a little bit higher than the others as it above the water pump. With this stud use and extra washer from the factory bolts to space the nut out and it'll be fine. this is a common issue with CA's running head studs.

[sjbsuperman1425]

i dont think i did the two washer trick on that stud, but it couldn't hurt I posted something awile back about it but dont remember where it is..

[dhen]

I called ARP and they said that I should be OK. I hadn't thought about the water pump. When you look closely at the head, it comes up a little higher on this bolt, so I think this is actually normal.

[float_6969]

Yea, that one sits higher. You said the thread were messed up, so I just assumed that's what we were talking about.

Just an idea, but to be safe, I used ALL of my STOCK washers, then the ARP washers on top of them. Takes a little more time, but it works well. There was a few ppl who said that the nut bottomed out on the thread of the stud before it actually tightened down to the head like it was supposed to, but everyone who had an issue just added a washer to that stud and it was fine.

[r34 gtr]

Ryan, I used ARP washers over the stock washers once and the results were bad. The head sealed and everything but the extra washer didn't clear the bottom of the lifter. I ran my engine like that for ~30k miles and this was what happened:



Thats not even the worst one. I had to have the machine shop remove two for me because they were so mangled they wouldn't come out. The stock washers have a taper to them for a reason.

Please be careful! Only use the extra washer on that one stud!

[boost_boy]

Just re-use the factory washers. And if you lose one or some, then use the washers ARP provided with the kit. You guys are crazy for stacking washers .

[float_6969]

Weird. I guess I got lucky. I HAD to stack at least the one by the water pump, and looking at all the others it looked iffy as to whether I was bottoming out the others as well. So I stacked all of them. Been running like that for 40K miles and 7 years w/o any issues.

[float_6969]

Were you running stock cams Tim? I'm wondering if I'll have issues when I put in my HKS 264's.

[r34 gtr]

Ah, you may have something there. I am running CA16 cams, so my exhaust cam is .7mm higher lift than stock. All my destroyed lifers were on the exhaust side. Still, don't do it, mkay?

[float_6969]

Well it's too late now, LOL. But I'll make sure and pull them out when I put the new cams in.

[s13drifter88]

wait, if theyre .7mm more lift then other than the duration differences the hks's are only .05mm taller in lift. my tomei's are 8.5mm lift, hks's are 8.75mm lift and iirc stock is 8mm lift. please correct me if im wrong. if it did do it with ca16 cams at 8.7mm then it will with the hks's at 8.75mm

[r34 gtr]

stock CA18DET camshafts are 248 duration, 8.5mm lift intake, and 248 duration 7.8mm lift exhaust. The CA16 cams have an 8.5mm lift on the exhaust too. Its just like running two exhaust cams, except that you don't need to degree them or anything.

So you have two sets of cams eh? You should sell me a set.

But yeah, I would probably try not to run multiple sets of washers.

[D_Stirls]

stock intake lift is 7.8mm and exhaust is 8.5mm
AFAIK Tomei's are 8.8mm and HKS have both 8.5mm & 9.0mm lift cams
My HKS cams are 9.0mm and i have a spec sheet for some HKS 8.5's.

[s13drifter88]

i would have sworn they were 240in, 248ex just like the s13 ka but only 8mm on each side, oh well.
who has 2 sets of cams??

[D_Stirls]

Getting a bit off topic here, but here is the full list if your interested.

EURO spec CA16DE....
In lift - 8.5mm
Ex lift - 8.5mm
In duration - 248
Ex duration - 248
In opens - 15 BTDC
In closes - 53 ABDC
In center lobe angle - 109deg
Ex opens - 59 BBDC
Ex closes - 9 ATDC
Ex center lobe angle - 115deg

EURO spec CA18DE...
In lift - 8.5mm
Ex lift - 8.5mm
In duration - 248
Ex duration - 248
In opens - 16 BTDC
In closes - 52 ABDC
In center lobe angle - 108deg
Ex opens - 50 BBDC
Ex closes - 18 ATDC
Ex center lobe angle - 104deg

EURO spec CA18DET...
In lift - 7.8mm
Ex lift - 8.5mm
In duration - 240
Ex duration - 248
In opens - 0 BTDC
In closes - 60 ABDC
In center lobe angle - 120deg
Ex opens - 59 BBDC
Ex closes - 9 ATDC
Ex center lobe angle - 115deg

JPN spec CA18DE S13...
In lift - 7.8mm
Ex lift - 8.5mm
In duration - 240
Ex duration - 248
In opens - 0 BTDC
In closes - 60 ABDC
In center lobe angle - 120deg
Ex opens - 59 BBDC
Ex closes - 9 ATDC
Ex center lobe angle - 115deg

JPN spec CA18DET S13...
In lift - 7.8mm
Ex lift - 8.5mm
In duration - 240
Ex duration - 248
In opens - 0 BTDC
In closes - 60 ABDC
In center lobe angle - 120deg
Ex opens - 64 BBDC
Ex closes - 4 ATDC
Ex center lobe angle - 120deg

Courtesy of Niscort

[r34 gtr]

The USDM CA16 cams are the same as the EURO spec. Somewhere on here I posted pictures of me measuring them.

I got the cam sizes backward though, so I would watch out double stacking those washers even more! I think the rule of thumb is just dont do it. I still stack them on that front stud - otherwise it wont seal, but I think the right move is to just get a correct size stud.

[Speedracer5767]

Just for my own clarification..... On stock cams, the ARP stud kit for the CA is right as is ordered, however u have to add an extra washer on the stud above the water pump, right? And instead of using the NEW ARP washers, I should re-use the stock washers and use one of the ARP ones for the taller stud?

[sjbsuperman1425]

I used the ARP washers and studs (none of the old washers) and tightened everything down to spec and followed the instructions. No issues yet.

[Speedracer5767]

It sounds fool-proof enough. I wouldn't think they would put out a stud kit that would be problematic. But its good to know of other's difficulties.