iamdub
Full Access Member
I'm getting ready to bolt the heads on. The book I bought on this tells high level details, but have some finer questions...
When I ordered the head bolts I bought GM Performance Parts head bolt kit. ARP was a bit too pricey for me (although my LT1 got ARP back in the day). The guy at summit sold me a tube of bolt lube. I used the lube (VERY LITTLE BIT) on my rod bolts. Do I need to do the same on these head bolts? I see the head bolts also have some red paste on the end of them (some sort of locking compound?). I don't recall what I did 20 yrs ago when I built my LT1
Should I use bolt lube on the head bolts before I torque down?
View attachment 274660
Don't lube the factory head bolts and, yes, they have a dry thread locker on the end of them. I use a protractor to make a template and put marks on the heads around each bolt hole, one at "zero", one at 90° then one at 70° from that 90° mark. I do the initial torque to 22 ft. lbs., mark the head of the bolt at the "zero" mark, turn the bolts so the mark on the head meets the 90° mark, then finally to the 70° mark. This is on a Gen4. Gen 3 has slightly different specs. https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/growing-up-doesnt-have-to-suck.93510/page-69#post-1455929
I do it this way because I put the heads on with the block mounted in the bay and the trans bell housing bolted up. Also, I torque the crank bolt with it on the stand. I use a breaker bar and socket and bounce my body weight on it, check the marks (I use the same method as the head bolts), turn it more, check the marks, etc. https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/growing-up-doesnt-have-to-suck.93510/page-56#post-1428052
My stand is a plain Hazard Fraught piece, but it's bolted to a heavy duty square frame with large casters: https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/growing-up-doesnt-have-to-suck.93510/page-51#post-1425131
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