[etzel]

I should be getting my 5M-GE's head back within a week, with a fresh valve job and hopefully everything cleaned up and within spec.

Should I buy new head bolts or re-use the old ones? I'm leaning towards buying new ones, as I know the car was overheated and they may have been damaged/stretched.

Thoughts?

Also, any recommendations for brand/model etc are appreciated.

Ryan

(and just 'cause this looks cool...)
0X

 

[SupraWes]

I would reccomend the ARP head stud kit. I dont know how much more it is than replacing stock bolts but they are better in my opinion and designed to be reused about $110 for a set. 203-4202 order em from Summit Racing. Course these are probably overkill if you dont plan to be boosting or adding "Nawss" or upping the power significantly.

 

[MikeD]

You can reuse stock head bolts as long as they were not over-torqued (i.e. 80 lb-ft or more). If you're planning on boosting then I'd recommend ARP's but not really necessary. Make sure that you torque the bolts to 65-70 lb-ft, not 56 lb-ft, iirc, as that's too low.

 

[Jumpsteady]

i dont know a lot about 5mge engines but a lot of other engines your recommended to use new head bolts. i think i would use new ones especially on these engines because of there problems with BHG to begin with.

like the previous posts an ARP stud kit would probably be your best bet.

 

[Crocket]

re: ARP P/N

was the part number given for ARP studs (203-4202) for a 7M head, or the closest fit for our MKII head (which is from a Ford I believe)?

 

[RWDCelicadude]

Don't reuse your head bolts, ever. They get slightly stretched when torqued and will not return to their original shape and will not give you the correct clamping force if you use them again. You may get away with using them with a higher torque but it is risky business and if you plan on driving hard or adding any power adders I would definitely get the head stud kit.

 

[SilverMk2]

You can reuse the Mk2 headbolts just fine (when used at factory torque levels). They aren't the TTY type bolts where the bolts are tightened until the material enters the plastic region. Many newer motors use these bolts, and it would be mentioned cleary in the manual to do so. The material does stretch but it is in the elastic region (where the material returns to its orginal shape once the load is removed). If this wasn't true you'd have to replace every bolt you ever remove.