Originally Posted by J richard

Any air cooled pcar mechanic worth his salt would know about the issues associated with the 2.7 case/head stud issue. The only way to be 100% sure not to have head studs pull is to have the time certs installed which involves splitting the case, installing the inserts and then re-machining the cylinder spigots because they will be deformed due to the installation of the certs. You can easily tell if they are installed even with the engine in the car with some contortions, you can see the steel insert around the stud where it goes into the case. If they were installed in the case you had replaced, then it would have been a fair assumption by your mechanic that you could top end the engine and not split the case. If you have a time cert pulling out of the case then I think you had some assembly issue or a real problem with the case, that would be a big chunk of metal pulling out of the case. If on the other hand someone only put in a thread saver type insert, thats a gamble, most of those don't hold and he should of made you aware of that.

Even in cars with pulled studs without inserts you can sometimes retorque them, but they will just pull out eventually. On the positive side once a 2.7 is properly done, they are great cars, (without the air injection) they feel much more like the early cars with the added benefit of a bigger motor...