On the other hand, if they are so weak that they can't take a little torque then they'll probably break in use.  The only bolts I've broken are the thermostat housing bolts.  I've has studs that were difficult to remove but I was more worried about pulling the aluminum threads out of the head than breaking the stud.

Beside that, aren't they too tall to clamp?  They don't look fully threaded.  Unless they're made from cut pieces of all-thread.  Did the PO have a stack of washers under the nut?

Stainless steel into aluminium - galvanic reaction city. The heat generated while undoing them accelerates the reaction and is what makes them resist even harder. S/S is brittle (unlike tensile steel) and you could regret this one. My vote would be leave it alone.

You are making such superb progress, don’t suffer scope creep and other unforeseen issues now. iMHO of course!

If he hasn't put a wrench on at least one to try and remove it, it's all conjecture.  There are many grades of SS.  Just don't know enough to say either way.  Has anyone broken a stud when it's free and clear like these?  They break when they're under tension, clamping, but I've never broken one when it was exposed like that.

Good luck CO.  I can't imagine that you'll leave those monstrosities in there after the work you put in to that valve cover bolt hole.  Doing one but not the other doesn't fit inside the same brain.  The manifold clamping is much more important than clamping a valve cover down.  Hence my zip ties joke.

It's been 8 hours, they're probably all out by now...

For those that have not used one, you can get a 8mm stud remover socket. 

Just put on the end of you extension. They work great. Another good investment I made.

induction heater tool, great for this stuff. expensive but beats the heck out of having to drill out.

LOL. No, they're not all out. I haven't done anything with them yet. They're all still in there.

So, basically the answer seems to be... "No, there is no logical reason for the lengths of those studs." and the follow-up info of " However... Mess with them only if I'm willing to accept the possible consequences." Roger that.

I guess I'll try gently to pull one and see what happens. If it comes out easy, maybe I'll try two. And so on. If the first one seems like it doesn't want to come out, I'll just cut down the extra longs with a hacksaw and call it a day.

Yes, they are all-thread, and cut to custom length by hand. I don't think it was part of a kit.

And no, they didn't really cause any functional problem. Other than having to screw the nuts on forever, they worked OK. In fact, the only location that was a problem was the front exhaust nut from cylinder #5. Because of the way the header turns forward so close to the head, getting a wrench on that one was a PITA. Haven't figured out what to do about that one yet, but I need to come up with something better than the way it was done before. Anyway... Small problems compared to the big picture.

So while I'm logged in and asking stupid questions... Anyone understand the point of doing this? Here's number three:

 

Clearly it is so the PO knew which chamber was #3 rather than #4. I am just hoping he/she counted right.?

Edited July 16, 20195 yr by jonathanrussell

Spatial Dyslexia?  Or just liked to punch things.

8 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

asking stupid questions.

As a teacher ones sayd: there are only stupid students that don't ask..

Maybe the 3 is a marking from a head restorer so he knows it was one of him..  is it 123456 in all of them or just a 3 (in the 3th cylinder?)

Sorry for not being clear... All of the cylinder are punched with their respective numbers.

I didn't take pics of all of them, but here's #4:

My issue about "what's the point" is... What possible reason would there be for punching the chambers like that? What's the value add?

It's not like they can possibly move around! I can understand it on things like the cam towers where it's possible to get them into the wrong positions, but the cylinders themselves aren't going anywhere!!! Even if you're trying to do something like get the same valves back to where they came from* or something, you don't need numbers. Just look at the head and hope you can count to six?    

* Side-note BTW - Based on the non-matching wear patterns on my valves and the seats from whence they came, I don't think he did. I believe I've spent the last couple thousand miles re-wearing valves to the wrong cylinders. Working on some of that is the next project on the agenda.

think this is called punch drunk.