Swapping heads

[PowerKraus]

With all the recent posts I have read on stryker and goods heads, I think a swap is in order for my 2002 GTS puffdaddy buggy.

From the looks of it, this appears to be a simple weekend job. Any tricks I should know about?

Thanks in advance !

 

[Joseph Dell]

While you are in there, you need to replace the head bolts. Get head STUDS instead... much stronger and cheap insurance (should you ever go blower/turbo). also, with the heads off, you are less than 60 minutes away from having pistons out too. so ponder whether you want to do that as well or not.

good luck! if you take your time, it is easy as pie!

JD

 

[SEASNAKE]

Change the thermostat to a 170 deg one while it is accessible and the coolant is drained. A dremel with a light flapper wheel is nice to get the excess gasket material off the timing chain gasket (if you go that far) & thermostat gasket. Mark the dampener for the firing sequence while the pistons are exposed. This makes it much easier to set the rockers when you are doing it by yourself. Disconnecting the electrical harnesses can be a pain until you get the knack of seperating them. Practice on some of the accessible ones before you get impatient behind the block. Even after draining the system from the bottom, you can get more the 1/2 gallon of coolant out of the block drains (i.e. use a big enough catch to hold 1 gallon).

You didn't say anything about going deeper, so I'll stop there.

 

[Jack B]

While you are in there, you need to replace the head bolts. Get head STUDS instead... much stronger and cheap insurance (should you ever go blower/turbo). also, with the heads off, you are less than 60 minutes away from having pistons out too. so ponder whether you want to do that as well or not.

good luck! if you take your time, it is easy as pie!

JD

Joe:

Tell me more about the studs:

1. Does it complicate setting the heads on to the block.

2. Where does the additional strength come from, are they merely a different alloy

3. Do you use RED to pin them to the b lock.

4. Where is the best place to get them and how much.

 

[Joseph Dell]

ARP makes a stud set for the viper for like $310, from Summit racing: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=ARP%2D247%2D4201&autoview=sku .

with studs, you torque the heads down to 110ft/lb rather than 90. this gives additional clamping force. also, the studs distribute the load more evenly from what i understand.

1 - not at all. in fact, it makes it easier b/c there is a guide. No alignment required. they screw in by hand or with an allen wrench (it is in the top of the stud) so you can buzz them on w/ a drill. takes like 5 min for both sides.

2 - ability to torque down the bolts more.

3 - not sure what this means. what's red?

4 - summit is where i got mine. partsrack might have 'em a little cheaper. or jegs. but they are a standard ARP part number.

The best part: you don't ever have to replace them as opposed to head bolts that you are suppose to replace every time you use them (or is it if they are older than 10k miles...).

on a SC/TT application, these are definitely the way to go!

JD

 

[Camfab]

I'm guessing "red" means red Loctite. Just curious where did the torque spec. come from, for the studs? You have to be very careful with studs, as they pull much harder on the block than bolts. My experience is only with iron Chevy blocks, but slightly overtorqueing the studs literally cracked the deck on the block. Also, normally in a performance application, the piston bores are bored and honed with bolts or studs torqued with a deck plate. If you later change fasteners the bores will actually distort differently and result in a loss of ring seal. Some or all of this may or may not apply to the Viper block, as it has Iron liners within an Aluminum block.

One of the advantages of the studs in a racing application, is that if your tearing into the motor between rounds your not wearing out the threads in the block. The studs engage all the threads in the block before any torque is applied to them. My experience with ARP studs was no Loctite, but thread sealant only on the block side.

 

[Joseph Dell]

No loctite or sealant required for the ARP studs. If you use moly, the then the tq specs are a little less.

i first got my tq specs from DLM, but when i later purchased a set of studs for a different viper, the instructions said 110-115 w/ oil, 90 w/ moly. I never use moly.

Never had the issue nor heard of the issue that you mention about needing to use a tq plate w/ the studs. makes sense, but never did it on any other motors and they have all been fine.

But i'm no expert. i just fake it in my spare time.

JD

 

[PowerKraus]

Torque plate....no no no, I have no desire or need to swap to forged pistons. I know to have restraint and KNOWLEDGE when running nitrous with the hypereutectic pistons. And not to be curt, but I do have significant eperience in boosted and nitroused buggies. I have the VEC and colder/tighter gapped plugs to handle the WOT tuning/timing to run it safe for my shot levels.

Again, thanks for all the replies and confirmations on the ease of the swap !

BTW - with studs, wil you still be able to pull the heads without locking the engine around? Studs are the way to go.

Peace and Love baby.

 

[Camfab]

Torque plate....no no no, I have no desire or need to swap to forged pistons. I know to have restraint and KNOWLEDGE when running nitrous with the hypereutectic pistons. And not to be curt, but I do have significant eperience in boosted and nitroused buggies. I have the VEC and colder/tighter gapped plugs to handle the WOT tuning/timing to run it safe for my shot levels.

Again, thanks for all the replies and confirmations on the ease of the swap !

BTW - with studs, wil you still be able to pull the heads without locking the engine around? Studs are the way to go.

Peace and Love baby.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I was not telling you to change pistons, nor did I mention nitrous. Merely the dynamics of changing your fastener types. Good Luck.

 

[PowerKraus]

Torque plate....no no no, I have no desire or need to swap to forged pistons. I know to have restraint and KNOWLEDGE when running nitrous with the hypereutectic pistons. And not to be curt, but I do have significant eperience in boosted and nitroused buggies. I have the VEC and colder/tighter gapped plugs to handle the WOT tuning/timing to run it safe for my shot levels.

Again, thanks for all the replies and confirmations on the ease of the swap !

BTW - with studs, wil you still be able to pull the heads without locking the engine around? Studs are the way to go.

Peace and Love baby.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I was not telling you to change pistons, nor did I mention nitrous. Merely the dynamics of changing your fastener types. Good Luck.

It is all good...no harm, no foul.

I think some of my reading of other posts where someone insists you gotta run forged pistons when nitrous is mentioned. It just is not true in ALL cases. To you and all that took the time to reply, please accept my apology if it sounded like I was attacking you. Based on these replies, I was listening...and wil use studs, afterall, they are the best in keeping the heads from lifting.

Take care