Swapping out head bolts for ARP studs without removing head - How??

[saturnv7890]

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SEE RESOLVED STEPS ON LAST POST
(I bought the studs because I want a reliable daily driver)

Hey all,

I want to switch to ARP head studs because the car I’m driving will be my DD and I don’t want to start blowing headgaskets. It’s a relatively new headgasket so I would like to try and just swap out the bolts for studs without having to completely remove the head.

Facts:
-300 miles on engine/HG
-O-ringed block
-10 psi max
-2.7i seta stroker ~8.5:1 CR
-torx head bolts

My understanding of how to swap the bolts:
1) Start from center (cyl 3 and 4), work outward
2) Remove the first bolt completely
3) Torque new head stud down – completely to 80 ft-lbs?? or 60 the first shot around??
4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 working outwards
5) Then increase torque in same pattern until you’ve reached 80???



Questions:
-Do I need the studs? (For my goal of reliability and boost level)
-Can I swap out just the bolts without removing the head?
-Will just swapping out the bolts hurt anything and make it less reliable?
-How should I do this? (do my steps above need to be modified?)
-How much should I torque down the head studs? I’ve read 80 ft-lbs

[bimma360]

Although I can't answer all of your questions, I can say that my Dinan turbo has been just fine for the last 70k miles (after rebuild) with stock head gasket and stock bolts @10-11psi. To this point I've had no coolant loss and no oil burning at all. I also don't beat on it everyday, so that may have something to do with it. If I'm not driving very hard the car rarely sees any boost.

[saturnv7890]

Well I decided to spring for them as a cheap peace of mind.

I do plan on beating the car.. at least for a little while haha. For me I bought the turbo to enjoy the crap out of! Not to say enjoying responsibly isn't worse by any means! (I mean.. look at all those commercials!)



So now the question lies in the installation, can anyone input?

[MR 325]

I know kamotors did this when he first boosted his E30. You can PM him for details.

[saturnv7890]

Thanks! Shot him a pm

[Bullet Ride]

I did this as well on my turbo car. Worked fine. However I just torqued each one to spec as I did them.

[saturnv7890]

I did this as well on my turbo car. Worked fine. However I just torqued each one to spec as I did them.

Thanks! I guess ARP says 70 ft-lbs. So you just removed one, torqued it to 70, rinse, repeat?

[kamotors]

PM sent, I've done it on 2 E30's with zero issues.

[saturnv7890]

Thanks for all the help!! Waiting for these to come in, I've been dropping all kinds of money on this thing haha


EDIT:
I swapped them out successfully without issues so far.


Steps I took:
-Following the torqueing pattern, I started from the inside (between cyls 3 and 4) and worked outwards
-Removed the first old head bolt
-Cleaned everything nicely, put stud in "hand tight" as specified by arp
-put included arp assembly grease on clean washer, clean nut, and clean stud
-torque nut to 70 ft-lbs
-repeat process for each bolt (one at a time!!)
-Once I was done with all 14, I went back and re-torqued to 70 ft-lbs (in specified pattern)
-Ran car for a 30 minute heat cycle, I didn't go too hard on the motor
-Went back and re-torqued to 70 ft-lbs at same pattern

NOTE: These steps are for replacing old bolts without removing head. This is not for a fresh installation!

[andrewm]

Im curious, has this still been working well for you?

[BMWManiac]

Did any of the fasteners loosen at all, or where they still close to 70 ft/lbs?

[AbsorbantNut]

Thought I'd chime in here. I installed the studs one at a time according to these instructions and have had 0 complaints. I also re-torqued the head after a 40 min heat cycle. I plan on re-torquing the head again over break so I'll post back if anything loosened up...not that I see a reason why it should :p