C1 Engine Rebuild - Head Bolt Washers

[Mark P.]

I am having my 1960 engine rebuilt and am trying to make it a correct NCRS engine including the use of steel shim head gaskets, correct bolts, correct freeze plugs, etc.

My rebuilder wants to use head bolt washers because he is concerned about breaking small fragments off the head when he torques them down and also is concerned about accurate torque readings.

Would the addition of these washers cause much of a point deduction ? Should I ask him to just use these washers under the valve covers and not use them for the short bolts ? The short bolts above the exhaust manifold are the ones he is most concerned about since they have some roughness where the bolts will seat.

[Jim L.]

Re: C1 Engine Rebuild - Head Bolt Washers

My rebuilder wants to use head bolt washers because he is concerned about breaking small fragments off the head when he torques them down and also is concerned about accurate torque readings.

Would the addition of these washers cause much of a point deduction ?

In my opinion, your rebuilder is trying to do you a favor by using those washers. If that were my engine, I'd use them and take whatever points hit there may be. To me, the engine is simply more important than points.

As evidence of having put my money where my typing fingers are (so to speak), on my otherwise unrestored '63 roadster, I have ARP head bolts and washers clamping the original heads to the original block.

You'll probably get lots of varied answers to your question, but this is how I see it.

Jim

[Mike M.]

Re: C1 Engine Rebuild - Head Bolt Washers

i'd guess the washer's presence would amount to a 5 out of 4500 point deduct. i use washers on head bolts under the valve covers but not on the short exposed bolts if the car is to be judged. your rebuilder is correct, the heads under the short bolts are more commonly fragmented. i just lubricate the head where the short bolt makes contact with the head and then torque gingerly to factory specs in the correct tightning sequence.since the heads won't probably be removed in my lifetime, fragmentation is rarely a problem., as repeated torquing is hard on the heads where the bolts mate to the head. mike

[Ian G.]

Re: C1 Engine Rebuild - Head Bolt Washers

On a related thread someone mentioned using anti-seize under exhaust manifold bolts binding and bending french locks. I bet this would do the trick to prevent head bolts from binding on the rough heads as well.

[Loren L.]

Re: C1 Engine Rebuild - Head Bolt Washers

i'd guess the washer's presence would amount to a 5 out of 4500 point deduct. i use washers on head bolts under the valve covers but not on the short exposed bolts if the car is to be judged. your rebuilder is correct, the heads under the short bolts are more commonly fragmented. i just lubricate the head where the short bolt makes contact with the head and then torque gingerly to factory specs in the correct tightning sequence.since the heads won't probably be removed in my lifetime, fragmentation is rarely a problem., as repeated torquing is hard on the heads where the bolts mate to the head. mike

I would go one step beyond #14 - I would washer all of them, but during the short period before judging, contact the Nat'l JC and the Meet JC re what deduction will be taken - if nominal, as it should be (these heads are now 50+ year old), I'd deal with it then. If the deuct was "over the top" and irrational, I'd take the chance and remove the washers - for ONLY the one startup for operations. After that, I'd loosen all and retorque in sequence (and incorporate the judge's name in some Druid funeral dirge, perhaps followed by a Xmas card that starts "You've been fortunate in that you've never owned a Corvette that was more than two years old....".

[Joe L.]

Re: C1 Engine Rebuild - Head Bolt Washers

I am having my 1960 engine rebuilt and am trying to make it a correct NCRS engine including the use of steel shim head gaskets, correct bolts, correct freeze plugs, etc.

My rebuilder wants to use head bolt washers because he is concerned about breaking small fragments off the head when he torques them down and also is concerned about accurate torque readings.

Would the addition of these washers cause much of a point deduction ? Should I ask him to just use these washers under the valve covers and not use them for the short bolts ? The short bolts above the exhaust manifold are the ones he is most concerned about since they have some roughness where the bolts will seat.

Mark-----


I HIGHLY recommend the use of hardened washers under the head bolts. I would not build any small block or big block without them. In fact, when I rebuilt my original 1969 small block (for eventual re-installation in the car) I used EVERY external component from the original engine right down to nuts and bolts or exact original NOS pieces EXCEPT I used hardened washers under ALL the head bolts. There's no way I would have built the engine without using those.

Not using hardened washers under the head bolts or, at least, not using flanged head type head bolts is one of the dumbest things that Chevrolet ever did in building engines. There's NO WAY I'm going to repeat that mistake for the purposes of "originality". NEVER. EVER.

[Jim L.]

Re: C1 Engine Rebuild - Head Bolt Washers

On a related thread someone mentioned using anti-seize under exhaust manifold bolts binding and bending french locks. I bet this would do the trick to prevent head bolts from binding on the rough heads as well.

You have good intuition. In fact, when you use ARP head bolts and washers, to get the correct clamping force, you lubricate the bolt threads, and the under-head area of the bolt (including the washer) with a moly lube with well controlled properties. This results in predictable bolt stretch and uniform clamping of the head.

Jim

[Mark P.]

Re: C1 Engine Rebuild - Head Bolt Washers

Thanks for all the advice. I am going with a full set of washers.

[Jerry C.]

Re: C1 Engine Rebuild - Head Bolt Washers

I have used these washers on the outside head bolts on all of my NCRS cars 58-60 and have never had a deduct.