Thread: Headstud comparison

I have a spare block and head laying around, I'm going to install it first to make sure it fits 100% and then I will let everyone know.



yup

golden does really good work, we have had them do the work on the bottom ends of some s2000 blocks and they are top notch..... They also make some sick intake manifolds for honda's and acura.... might be onto something here!

I just went ahead and bought the greddy head studs for peace of mind

After reading every page, I still have a question that I hope one of you can answer. Before I do ask though, I'm going to list the mods done to my SR20DET.


- 300ZX TT pistons. And yes, I overbored the block to accomodate for the bigger slugs
- Cometic metal head gasket
- Re-used OEM head bolts
- O2 Induction intake manifold
- GT2871R

Caveat: head was not milled prior to closing up the motor. I didn't feel the need to do it because I never had an issue with head warpage. I plan on keeping the head the same way as there are no shops in the area where I am stationed.

Now, on to the problem. I have noticed that the coolant gets blown out of the radiator and into the reservoir, to the point where I have to refill the radiator with coolant every other day.

With this issue and with what I've outlined in terms of what my motor has, does anyone of you think the issue could be from the head gasket going bad (as Cometic is sometimes known for), or is it from me doing a very stupid thing and re-using the stock head bolts?

I don't plan on going higher than 19 psi on my GT2871R. If anything, my power goals ultimately will not surpass 450 whp, ever. With that, is it a safe idea to go with stock head bolts and go back to using a stock head gasket (which I plan to spray with Copper gasket in order to accomodate for uneven surface between the head and the block)?

If I can get a yes on that, I'm going straight up with http://www.thenismoshop.com as they're the cheapest when it comes to OEM head gaskets for RWD SR20DETs. Any help would be appreciated.

re -using OEM head bolts is fine as long as they are within the specs listed in your FSM; however, OEM headbotls are mad cheap and work fine for your foals as I have personally pushed them beyond that with no probs.

BUT, spend the cash on a good headgasket, OEM worked well for me up to 420+rwhp, but for ~$230 an apexi 88mmx.8mm hg will bump cpmression and make your car a nblast to drive, or the Tomei 88mmx0.6mm hg.

Follow this link to find out what your new compression would be, 9:1 cr is totally fine for a boosted sr20, in fact it is way more fun then 8.5:1, less timing needed for similar power output.

http://rs-enthalpy.com/tuning/sr-compcalc.xls

^I was thinking of running 9:1......over 8:5. I'll look into the HG's.

Thanks for the input!

I ended up buying a set of OEM head bolts and an OEM head gasket a little bit before you made your post. I know I went cheap, but I found the best deal around for the bolts and head gasket at http://www.thenismoshop.com. You just can't beat $32 for an OEM S13 SR20DET head gasket. Phase2motortrend sells OEMs for $85!

Having gone with a Cometic head gasket and seeing what it has obviously done (i.e., blown on me), I figured OEM was the best for my goals with the fact that I am not looking at going beyong 400whp, period. I never did check the old head bolts, so they may have been out of spec anyway, which is probably also why I have the issues that I do.


And thanks for the link! If I don't mill the head (which I won't be doing), I'm looking at 8.67 C/R with the 300ZX TT pistons. So it isn't much of a jump, which is fine. I am not trying to raise the C/R as I'm stuck with 91 octane in the area I'm stationed in, so detonation is a big concern, obviously. With only a slight C/R increase, I don't think I need to go with anything other than OEM. Now, I do realize that I should get the head milled, but if the variation is within spec, I'll go with an old trick I knew some V8 guys would do; spray on some copper gasket on the head gasket to help seal things better. Hopefully, I will not be doing this crap all over again.

good to hear. but dont be afraid of 9:1 on 91. We have pushed 19 psi out of a gt3076r on 91 and 9:1 for 401rwhp.

OEM stuff is great, if you want to do a better HG in the future without bumpong compression look into the cosworth HG ~$130 for a MLS grommet type HG is a steal.

Copper spray is great for all HG's.

i have been battling head lift with my b13 t3 & nos setup.
i have 4 diff heads and bolcks .
machine shop checked hg surfaces are flat .

my car is a drag race toy and i use a 50 shot for spool and up to a 200hp shot in 3rg gear and up

i started out not wanting to but a gt30 or sumthing along thos lines . i already had alot of nos parts and was trin to go fast for cheap
in retrospect the big ball bearing turbo would have been cheaper .
i have stacks of all kinds of head gaskest and piles of head bolts.
the oe bolts are very nice .
i would stay away from fel pro head bolts

i have a set of arp studs in my current engine and when tighting the nuts the studs would strech and not hold torque. i could torque to 80flbs but no higher .

b16 studs? the b18 look to long
or 4g63 94& up?

B16 headstuds, IIRC.