I'm planning on finishing the install of my heads and cam this weekend and I wanted to give everyone a chance to tell me I'm an idiot before I finalize the procedure. You have all been a great help so far.

1)I'm installing Dart Pro1s 205cc heads. Due to the wide chamber (of the heads) I'm running the GM LS2 MLS Gaskets. Does anybody know of any issues with these gaskets? Leaks, etc?

2)I'm planning on giving the gaskets a thin coat of Permatex copper gasket spray/sealer. I haven't heard a compelling reason why I might not want to do this, can anyone suggest why this might not be a good idea? I absolutely don't want any leaks anytime or in anyway.

3)I'm going with new stock TTY bolts. The bolts appear to have a little sealer on the tip. Is this sufficient and do I want to apply more or anything else?

4) My brother who does a bit of work on porsches said that it is common in the porsche world to squirt a little wd40 in the bolt hole as to provide lubrication to the bolt as to not get a false reading when torquing down the heads.

5)Any special head torqing procedure (other than what is in the GM service manual) recommended?

6)Any "gotchas" I should be aware of?

7)Anything I might be forgetting?

Thanks for all the help! I certainly value all the adivce I've been getting.

 

using new headbolts???

 

Yes, I'm going with new GM TTY bolts. The price and the fact that you need to retorque ARPs didn't excite me.

 

The most important thing would be to make sure that the holes have been flushed out of any debris and coolant before you bolt down the heads. Maybe you have that covered already.
There is a specific assembly lube to be used with ARP bolts but since you are using the torque to yield ones I would do more research to check out whether lubricating the threads is a good idea. After all the torque accuracy is not that important with TTY, what you need is a dial showing how many degrees you have rotated, and with this in mind putting WD beforehand appears not very useful. It may even corrode the bolts.
Good luck, please post some pics

 

See below. Good luck.

 

It seems everyone has given you pretty good advice. One thing that may help you keep track of the rotation when torquing the bolts is to draw a line with a sharpie AFTER the initial torque value. That way you'll see exactly where you are after each rotational step in the TTY process.

One more thing. I don't have a good reason to tell you not to use the copper spray, but I have used the MLS gaskets and used nothing without ANY seal problems. They were not designed to need anything, but I really don't see why it would hurt either.

 

Not sure why you would need to reset anything if you are using the GM procedure with marking bolts and turning by degrees.


Excellent advice. Ground bolts & Brackets were a B!@#H even with the head off.

 

Thanks for all the info guys...vettenuts you've especially been a big help. I didn't know there was a special procedure with the TTYs, I would have read the service manual before install but still it scares me how much I don't know. I spoke with "thetorch" who also is running dart heads. He told me that dart actually recommended spraying the gaskets with copper sealant. Not sure if I will use it yet as I see that I am in the vast minority with the stuff. So if anyone can think of why I shouldn't please post!

About that troublesome stuff bolted (responsible for some very choice words during removal) to the back of the heads. Aside from the ground wire I don't actually plan on bolting that stuff back on the heads. Is there any reason why I might want to bolt the stuff back on the heads, doesn't seem necessary but I don't know evertything....yet.

 

Before I clean out the bolt holes I'm going to seal the cylinderr, lifter valleys, and water jacket holes with blue (painters) masking tape to make sure nothing from the bolt holes gets in these sensitive areas Is that the best tape to use?

Also, I didn't plan on replacing the plastic lifter "things." Should I? Also, I'm going with a relatively mild cam (228/230 .570/.573 112sep) is there anything I should worry about (rocket arms, valve cover clearance, lifter travel within the plastic "things")?

Is it a good idea to put the spark plugs in prior to installation? Some recommend it.

 

MAKE SURE that the bolt holes are 100% dit dot clean and dry! USE A LIGHT AND VISUALLY inspect the holes! I would NOT use any lube. All the engineering specs are for DRY bolts. When you add lube,,,you throw that out the window.
I have a 8" long thin aluminum pipe attached to my blow nozzle and it gets inserted ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM of each bolt hole. You would be amazed at what come out when you blow from the bottom. SAND, water, ect....

As for the lifter retainers,,,if you can insert the lifters in the lifter retainer holes and turn the retainers so the lifters are pointing down and the lifters DON'T fall out,,,there probably good.
There are some people that say if you look on the bottom of the retainers and there are the number "10" on them, they should be replaced.

I'm doing the exact same thing that your are at this very moment. My retainers have a 20 on them and they hold the new lifters FINE!

I plan on installing my MLS gaskets on a clean and dry head and block. Thats how there designed to be installed. I'm installing mine using ARP head studs!

Bill C

 

See below.

 

While it will allow the bolt to apply more clamping force for a torque value, as Vettenuts points out the trick is useful for applications where you are using a torque value. When using a torque value some percentage of the torque is going to overcoming friction and not to clamping force. Using a lubricant allows more torque to directly effect clamping force and you end up with more consistent results, not necessarily better.

Not sure if it would really help you out, as noted the stock bolts go by degrees rather than torque, so using a lubricant will not make it more accurate. Although I wonder if it would make it a little easier to reach the correct degree...