head stud question for you guru's

[veedubboostn]

hello y'all....

I am putting a ported and polished G60 head on my 90' rado and figured I'd put some ARP head studs on it.... does anyone know any pros or cons to doing a head swap on a 1.8L dub motor..?? or have any experience with ARP studs..??

also wheres the best place to grab the studs and a new head gasket..??

[veedubboostn]

anyone..??:rolleyes:

[lotar_6]

wish I could help w/ the head question... but I can't. So I'll just post here to say hi! :smile:


I use SS&D (http://www.stopshopanddrive.com/) & AutohausAZ (http://www.autohausaz.com/) for most stock parts. good prices and free shipping over $50. SS&D is right coast, so shipping is fast, but AAZ is left coast.

not sure about the best price for ARP studs, tho. However, the next time I pull my head, I'll be looking for them.

[FusLit]

As far as I know ARP makes a decent head stud. I've got head studs (raceware I believe) for my turbo diesel motors, but since I've not installed them I cant tell you much about them. Joe (rabbitGTDguy) is pretty knowledgeable on them though, perhaps he'll chime in.

http://fuslit.org/photo_gallery/picKLE-cache/misc/car/turbo_diesel_buildup/12-03-06_head-studs/SP_A0243_320.jpg

Here's a spot to look up some info (at least on the diesel side of things) on them

http://www.vwdiesel.net/phpBB

Sorry I'm not much more help.

-Todd

[rabbitgtdguy]

Not as to sure if I understand your question about the "pros and cons" of doing a head swap on your motor...but I'll take a stab at it.

I'm going to guess, that as long as you just are doing a straight swap, it shouldn't be a problem at all (G60 head to g60 head). Just the porting and polishing that makes a difference there. If you have the head ported...the exhaust manifold and intake manifold should at the very least be port matched....the intake should be ported and polished as well if you want to maximize the potential of the head. If you really wanted to get fancy...while I was in there, i think I'd install a FOX intake manifold (ported and polished) as it flows better than the G60 one. May/may not be worth the investment right now to you.

Other than that...it is making sure you have good bits to put back on and do it in the correct manner...a bentley being your best friend. You should replace the t-belt and the tensioner if they are the originals as well. Intake manifold gaskets and exhaust manifold gaskets will need to be replaced. You'll need a new head gasket and will need to do an oil change and coolant flush refill as well. Maybe than answers it? 8v's are easy to work on...shouldn't be hard. More time consuming than anything. Oh...soak down any manifold studs a couple nights before and run the car ....i use PB blast and this always makes things so much nicer when swapping the head, and avoiding busted bolts. My .02...

On the ARP hardware. I am more of a fan of the made in the USA Raceware head studs...but do have experience and knowledge of the ARP stuff. They are made in mexico (most ARP hardware is now) and I've never heard anything bad about the head studs themselves. I have heard and read horror stories of ARP hardware failures....especially rods bolts in several place....some info on the mains as well. But head studs...nothing really. I don't think they have the same strength as the Raceware (tensile strength) but they also cost less than the Racewares most the time as well. Shouldn't be any probs on your 8v. The most important thing with installing the head studs is making sure
1. You clean the holes they are to go into out completely...chase, etc...
2. The studs need to be installed as per the instructions, properly lubed (with the correct oil)
3. There are torque specs you'll need to follow (in conjunction with the bentley torquing pattern as well) and then a retorque after you run it for a little while.

Thats what I can think of. They def are a good investment vs. stock bolts. I need to find another set of Racewares for my mTDI build that I'm doing for the b3. This will be the 4th motor I've used studs in and I have NEVER had a head gasket issue since ...even with the fiber gaskets that there wasn't too much choose about a few years back with the older diesel....NO issues when running studs...

Anyways...my .02

Joe

[POSgti]

I have heard of people having to retorque these studs although in the directions it doesnt instruct you to, so far.. I havent had the problem of having to retorque them, I have been driving my car for about a year and a half so I dont think they are gonna loosen at this point but I do hear its something to watch out for, with mine I torque'd them 50, to 75 to 105, to125 ftlbs. the directions said to go 120 ft lbs with 30W oil, I went 125 because of the longer 1/2 inch extension I was using. So far they work great!

[allstarrme]

summit or MJM have the best prices on ARP headstuds, you may have to call MJM if you can't find them on their site but they also should have about the best price on a headgasket. I have ARP's on my corrado so when I go turbo at some point I can take out the mk4 gasket and add a spacer on the VR6.

follow the instructions with them and have a bentley on hand for the proper torque sequence and its easy. Get the undercut ones, as the regular ones you have to retorque and the undercut ones spread the force across the head better.

[BUNNYLOVE]

They come with lube too and the torque specs are different if you use it so read the spec sheet they come with.