bebbetufs

Just a thought, what if, after torquing the head, we heat the engine using hot water and let it cool. Will that help relieve the tensions and let us re-torque without going through the tedious business of mounting the cam and the belts just to start up the car and then remove them again?

I now it won't be the same as actually running the engine with the pressure and movement involved, but could it work?

V2Rocket

Maybe if you could put really hot water in there, under pressure to raise it above boiling, and cycled it a few times?

bebbetufs

Well, that will be quite difficult. Would not the temperature change itself make the metal move around enough for this to work?

theedge

I think getting sufficient boiling water in there and cycling it through while keeping it at temp would be far more work than just pulling the cam tower and checking the torque...

wingnut

Re-torque is not just because of the heat stress, it is also the cylinder pressure stresses. Stresses induced in assembly can be redistributed as things shake out after a few stress cycles, so re-torquing is called out for to check these critical fasteners and ensure they are still in the zone.

Voith

Hot pressure washer can heat block to 150c if you spray it with wet steam long enough.

bebbetufs

Thanks guys. I'm throwing this out there because I'm building the engine from scratch on a stand, and It would be nice to be done once I put it in the car.

Vincent C.

we use heat lamps and let the motor heat up slowly....vinnie

bebbetufs

Nice idea. How long and how many watts?

Vincent C.

just use standard heat lamps, turn them on and set a temp probe on the block....we normally need 6 to 8 hrs to get to 250 degrees f.....must keep an eye on the progress.....not real close with the lamps
its a slow procedure...vinnie

JimV8

It's possible you could make it work out, but consider why you are re-stressing the clamping force of the fastener. It isn't worth the risk.

V2Rocket

What is the interval between initial and re-torquing for ARP?

bebbetufs

I thought it was one heat cycle...?

Vinnie, have you ever found a loose nut after using your method? Stock or MLS gasket?

DLS

i use arp on my engine, i drove the car the hole summer without re-torquing after had read that many skipped the re-torquing part but in the end of the season i saw that pressure was building up a little in the coolant tank so i removed the camtower last winter and re-torqued the head and i could turn all nuts 1/4 more and after that all is ok

Corleone also suggested when i torqued my head to run hot water trough the engine but i skipped that

bebbetufs

Interesting. Are you running an MLS or composite gasket?