[GOSFAST]

I was going to add to Ol' Ron's post about cylinder heads but didn't want to "hijack" the thread so I figure I'd start a new one instead!

When you're installing ANY brand of aftermarket (aluminum) heads it's necessary to choose some sort of method to "stabilize" them on the blocks.

Just got a couple PM's and a couple e-mails asking if we could "pin" the blocks, gaskets, and heads like we normally do here. Was asked if the tooling was "portable"? I can only do the "pinning" while the casting is here being machined, the tooling works in conjuction with some of our other equipment. It doesn't really pay to ship a block/heads around for us to pin only, it just wouldn't be cost-effective between the price of both the procedure and the shipping!

The head bolts holes now in all the newer castings I have here (8 Edelbrocks to be exact) are now coming in drilled .500"+, way too big in my opinion for the .437" fasteners, something must be done to keep these castings more stabile. This "looseness" will have a "negative" effect on the head gaskets over time!

The next best scenario is using some thin-wall aluminum sleeves (this has been mentioned previously up here by others) and fitting 2 sleeves to each side on ANY two studs (preferably 1 on each end of the heads) that have enough room to slide "comfortably" between the bolt holes and the bolts/studs.

Just fabricated 2 sleeves and gave it a shot, will work OK as an alternative method to the "pinning" and can be done easily using a small lathe and some aluminum tubing starting with a .500" O.D.

We've been "pinning" every build here for some time now and I would never install (new) heads here any longer without making certain they aren't going to move around! I don't care which fasteners you choose, bolts OR studs, I would want the heads/gaskets stabilized.

(Add) I will also say this: we've never re-torqued a single head on any Flathead ever built here, I have one now that I know has over 40,000 miles on and it is still "perfect". It has the Edelbrock 1116 heads/Fel-Pro copper head gaskets/ARP studs on it, and they are all "pinned".

Thanks Gary in N.Y.

P.S. Here's a shot of a new Edelbrock showing the 2 sleeves (circled in red) in position, this isn't quite as good as the actual dowel pins we use but it IS a good second alternative!