Coolant/unburnt fuel leaking from head gasket

[nmauduit]

i would also hardness test the head

vheers
Rohan

just out of hospital and into rehab after a does of covid and complications. unfortunately missed my races last weekend due to it

Quite sorry to read that, I do hope you'll fully recover promptly...

[The Veg]

Yes I reckon the ARP bolts are better than the ARP studs for road application and may even be better for race application. See previous discussion on the topic. If the ARP studs were a similar thickness to the ARP bolts and also the original bolts they would be better. As is they are much thicker and less elastic than the original bolts unless you torque them to achieve a clamping load higher than what the block and head were originally designed to cope with.

Another potential bugaboo with the studs is that the head my not align quite correctly along the longitudinal axis, or at least that's what happened when I tried to use them. I don't know if this is a common problem, but when I tried using them (sold to me at the same price as bolts because the usual suspect with whom I dealt was out of bolts when I ordered), the bolt that goes vertically through the front wall of the timing space would not engage the hole in the front cover as the head was a tiny bit too far forward! I then got a set of bolts from a different suspect and anybody who wants the studs can PM me with an offer. They've only had torque on them once for a short period and no engine operation.