sr20det torque plate use

[Ser200sx567]

I've read a lot about people buying ARP Head studs and a MLS head gasket. Wouldn't one distort the cylinders if just treated like a bolt in? Would the cylinder even on stock application have to be honed with the ARP head studs and the MLS head gasket installed with a torque plate if you were going to upgrade these parts.

How critical is torque plate honing for a MLS head gasket and ARP head stud swap?

[Hijacker]

Honing isn't the same as machining. You don't need a torque plate if you're just honing. Honing also doesn't affect the head gasket or head studs. It's primarily done to help the rings do their jobs.

Now, if you were boring the block, I would recommend having a torque plate, but since SRs are designed as closed deck blocks, it's not critical to have one.

[supreamS14]

When installing a MLS head gasket you don't need to hone anything. Honing and torque plate's are for refinishing the cylinder wall's when you change piston's/rings. It's a good idea to have the head and block decked flat to a very smooth finish to help the sealing. Some people just clean the surface of both for a bolt on install. I myself have the head resurfaced and check the block with a straight edge to make sure it's flat. Does that help?

[Ser200sx567]

thanks for the input. I have spent a lot of time in a auto machine shop. I worked on this DART V8 along with my dyno class who built it, then dynoed it and tore it down to analyze it. This kid didn't use a torque plate on the block and we used arp everything. We found that to tops of the cylinders conjacent to the head bolts had distorted and the side skirts rubbed on the cylinders. Since SR's are alumninum and not cast iron I would assume that there is more distortion with SR20DET ARP head studs which call for 105ft lbs of torque. I'm trying to find out if anyone has tested an SR like this and if they had clearance issues too. In the process I hope to help everyone futher their knowledge of building SR's. I would hate to lose a engine like that myself. So if it does distort like that is honing enough to straighten the cylinders, I myself usually leave 0.0035" to hone on blocks after they have been bored. During honing you can get barrel shape cylinders and tight bottoms or tops.

[supreamS14]

http://autospeed.com/cms/A_110298/article.html This might help you on your quest.

[Ser200sx567]

hi, that's an excellent article to read. Thanks for sending me that link! With that said I'm going to run the torque plate through all the block machning processes except resurfacing of course.