>>>*I will stick my nose in with MHO, if I may. My son Tod is a tad jittery, he got a head back with the cam line melted, had to replace it free. Yep, studs choking off the oil feed, he fixed that and she ran fine. Kinda spendy learning curve there.

*ARP has some of the finest products there is, with a well deserved reputation.

That said, the studs work just fine with most combinations. Do they help? In normal conditions it makes no difference at all, in upset conditions like tuning errors, etc, they help keep things sealed. But trust me when I say you can STILL fail a gasket if you get a cylinder too hot or something like that.

The thing to remember is one company makes a part, then another company makes a part, and as with any change or any modification it is up to the installer to check everything.

*Make note here: CHECK everything!!!

Since many different suppliers cast heads, all it takes is a slight bolt hole diameter size change or bolt hole shank size change? Either one fine by itself but the two together? Yep, one piece doesn't work with the other without a small modification.

*A bit like measuring your foot and ordering mail order shoes if you get my drift.... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />..

This is true of almost everything. Now 98% of the time, they will go in and work, if the oil clearence looks too snug, modify the stud. I have now done this a total of twice, both times with an aftermarket head of unknown origin. Our own Topline heads seem to be fine in this respect but I also have one report of maybe??

Crabby phone calls are embarrassing...

Oiling to the top is dependent on room for it to flow past that stud, a larger stud is going to reduce the volume somewhat.

Of course if you install a cam with too much lift, now you need to check the oil holes in the rocker shaft and drill an extra oil hole in the rocker in extreme situations.

We don't even produce cams with enough lift that this can happen because after about .460" total valve lift, well...Nothing much more happens..*Just MHO again.

Folks argue with me on that one, fine with me.

*:D..

So in very rare situations, we suspect the combination of the stud and a slightly off head bolt hole. The rest of the time, no problem.

On spring tensions mentioned above, the gentleman is exactly correct!! Keep the nose load under 190#. I would explain but that is another article, just write that one down...

190# will hold you to into the high 6000+ RPM range, note at this point your friendly neighborhood machinist (me) is hiding behind the big white tires?

*Tough little engines be dam*ed, flying metal hurts.

If ARP studs are handy and in the budget, go for it. One of these days I just might produce my own piece, who knows? I already have them designed.

Part of my problem is this semi-retirement stuff? Now I work ALL DAY instead of ALMOST all day....*LOL**....*EB