Torque on 302 Heads

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Jul 18, 2002 | 09:02 PM

WrenchHead84

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From: Warrenton, VA

Torque on 302 Heads

I'm moments away from installing the heads on my rebuilt 302(still in the process ofcourse). Should I torque the heads to the specs from the small-block ford book, or should I torque them according to the directions in the gasket kit. They both list different torque specs. The book even lists the steps you torque the heads in, but the directions just give 1 torque spec for long bolts and short bolts.
Any suggestions would be helpful
Thanks
WrenchHead

1979 F-150 Custom. 302 V-8 4-spd 2WD. 124,100 Miles

Jul 18, 2002 | 10:02 PM

TorqueKing

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From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Torque on 302 Heads

Use the sequence from the book. the final spec should be pretty close, usually the torque requirement is a function of the fasteners. If you use a little thread lube, the graphite kind, just enough to wet the threads but not coat it (too much will hydrolock the threads and give a false torque reading), then 75 ft*lbs for the long ones and 70 for the short (bottom) ones should be fine. The book should call for 80, but you'll get more tension out of the bolts (clamping force) with a 99 cent package of lube from the parts store, even with less final torque. There's an entire science behind the torque vs. tension function, but the most important thing to do here is to retorque the bolts back to spec after you've broken the motor in, they'll probably lose about 5 ft*lbs. Another thing to do is to step-torque them. In other words, start at 50 ft*lbs and then go around the sequence, then go to 60, do them all again, and then 70, and then give the top bolts their final 5 ft*lbs. Good Luck!

Jul 19, 2002 | 12:19 PM

Sedric

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From: Calgary Canada

Torque on 302 Heads

I put up a similar post on July 8 so you might take a look at some of the responses. The torque spec. given with the Felpro gasket set said 70 lb-ft for the short bolts and 80 lb-ft for the long bolts. That is what I did. That was about 2 weeks ago and I intend to go back and retorque them again soon. I made sure that the head bolts screwed into the block nice and easy before I put the heads on and I put a bit of grease on the threads before installing them.

Jul 19, 2002 | 02:26 PM

Mil1ion

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Torque on 302 Heads

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Jul 20, 2002 | 03:18 AM

blu93gt

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From: space city

Torque on 302 Heads

what head bolts are you using?

somewhere in the '80's they started using "torque-to-yield head bolts, which are throwaways. if your new bolts are TTY, then the torquing process is a little different - i think you torque in steps to a certain value, then turn like 1/4 turn more. something like that, not the "normal" way.