Head bolts lessons learned
 

An earlier post of mine asked for advice on how to minimize broken head bolts. Response referenced:

http://fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168354

Seemed like good advice. Went out and bought a Ryobi 18 volt impact wrench. I went after the driver side head with impact wrench on full speed and a full power battery, and proceeded to wring off 6 bolts.

The part of that advice that I missed was "slow and easy." Did the passenger side head using the middle wrench power setting, taking a second or two tightening, followed by three or four seconds untightening. All head bolts came out intact. Had to use full power on three, again alternating in and out in short bursts.

So, it seems that "slow and easy" is a very important bit of wisdom.

Passenger side head had two head gaskets; otherwise looks fine. What reason would someone have had to use two gaskets? Warped head?

Good news: the block looks great; no visible cracks. On to the machine shop for broken stud removal and stroker kit.

Re: Head bolts lessons learned
 

Maybe no piston to head clearance?

Re: Head bolts lessons learned
 

Both heads had two gaskets. On closer inspection, the dome inside the cast iron head combustion chamber does not go to the edges of the cylinder bore. by as much as half inch. That suggests the heads were milled, creating domed piston to head clearance issue.

The dome goes to the edge of the bore on the Offey heads I have.

Re: Head bolts lessons learned
 

Had to run the two head gasket myself due to new pistons being a bit taller than the old ones. No problem. Suggest you "foil" each piston (search this site) and see what clearances you come up with. You can machine the head a bit to get at least .035 clearance using a small grinding stone on a drill. Again, search this site as it was recently discussed.