Question about head bolts

redneck15431

Member
May 13, 2006
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I put gt-40 irons on my car and I forgot to put pipe dope or thread sealer on my lower head bolts...after i almost got everything on the engine assembled...ahhhh! Should/can I take the lower head bolts out and put some pipe dope on them without unbolting everything else? As long as the top bolts are still torqued to spec it would be alright I'd imagine, just as long as I take them out and put them back in one at a time, right?. Or should I not worry about it?
Thanks.
 
Take one out at a time starting with the middle one.

Here are the steps to go by redoing the LOWER headbolts, not uppers as they are ok.

1) Drain coolant from motor as BEST as you can. The more gone the less chance of having a leak. If possible, unscrew the drain from block on the drivers side, under the car on the side.

2) Pull out middle headbolt from one side

3) Spray brake cleaner in hole, use air compressor or let air dry to dry out the holes. Make sure not to use too much air since it may splash coolant back onto the threads.

4) Use a generous amount of ULTRA BLACK RTV on the head bolt threads. I HIGHLY recommend this stuff because I had a problem with teflon products and this stuff sealed it NO PROBLEM!

5) Torque directly to your torque setting whatever that may be. No need to do it in steps this time.

6) Continue this procedure for the rest going from the inside bolts, out.

Let the car sit for a couple hours to make sure the RTV drys well and start it up. Keep an eye out near top of the headbolts for leaks.

Shouldn't have any problems after this as I followed this same procedure with no leaks and 8psi of boost!
 
Phew, thats a relief. The engine has not been run yet and I haven't filled it up with fluids yet so I think it will be okay. I have been using the red high temp silicone but I think I also have a tube of black laying around somewhere.
Anyways thanks a lot :D
 
One more question. Is it also necessary to retorque the upper head bolts after I do this? It's not really a big deal if I have to because all I have to do is unbolt the valve covers.
Thanks again.
 
If you've already torqued the top bolts and haven't loosened them since, then they should be ok. Once you get the bottom ones torqued down, you might go back over all of them (top and bottom) in the proper sequence to make sure they're all satisfactory.