m20 head removal from the engine with ARP studs

[zaq123]

Getting back to my build that was pretty much was sitting for the summer as I discovered that my freshly rebuilt head had a cyl5 to cyl6 water jacket crack. So I'm getting ready to swap the head and have a question for those with ARP studs.

To remove/install the head:
is it better to tilt the engine/transmission to try to get a firewall clearance to slide the head on/off from studs or is it better to remove studs completely and reinsert once new head is installed?
The engine was out when I first assembled it so I had studs installed first and slid the head on them. I don't think it is exactly going to work with the engine in the car unless the engine is tilted forward??

Any advice on this is appreciated.

[82eye]

pretty sure everyone leaves it alone. stock set up uses bolts so it's a non-issue and everything is left as is. this is really only a question for those with arp studs, i've never seen a post where a tilt was needed, but things can change with different mounts etc.

edit: i didn't think the studs were reusable as it's a crucial tty application. assume they are coming out anyway.

[McGyver]

None of the ARP hardware I've come across for an m20 is TTY (head studs, rod bolts, main caps), so it's all reusable. The ARP instructions are to "screw studs into the block HAND TIGHT ONLY". Once you have the nuts and washers off, it should be really easy to take out the studs.

I just replaced a head on my m20 with stock TTY bolts. It was annoying to get the head past the cables that cross the engine bay, this would be way more annoying with studs in the way.

I would suggest pulling the studs so you don't have to worry about damaging the mating surface of the old or new head.

[digger]

you just use an allen key/hex drive or double nut to remove the studs from the block. Dont waste your time trying to slide the head over the studs unless the engine is out of the car