No, the studs are the actual carb studs that held the throttle body. I left the 1/2" spacer between the plate and the manifold to account for the length of them. And I've always been able to pull the engine with these headers. They're the old Black Jacks that are essentially unobtainable. They'll also be getting a refreshed ceramic coating as this version has seen the end of its life and is flaking/peeling off. When I redid the car in '01 I had sent them to some outfit in Tennessee iirc. This time around they may get sent off to Jet Hot for the original coating in hopes it'll be a better product.