RadoVirgin 0 Posted March 4, 2013 Ok I've just bought and engine and I'm going to do the headgasket and chains etc. my question is whether or not I should fit ARP head bolts or just go with standard stretch bolts? The reason is based on the price of course ARP = £200 and OEM = £30-£40 The plus side for ARP is that they are reusable and also the torque loading of the OEM stretch bolts scares the crap out of be me to be honest. Are there any other major benefits to using the ARP bolts? BTW the head is fitted with a piper 264 cam and is ported and polished although I'm not sure if it is a relevant factor? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lewvw 10 Posted March 4, 2013 I think people use ARP for big power forced induction setups, if you are going for a standard setup then use standard bolts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hendrikbmx 0 Posted March 5, 2013 I just ordered arp bolts for my na setup. Might go fi in the future, but for now its just for a peace of mind. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vr6turbo 10 Posted March 5, 2013 No piece of mind needed I've ran 500bhp+ on standard bolts for over 3 years. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vr6turbo 10 Posted March 5, 2013 Hope that did not sound cocky lol was just trying to get my point across that these arp bolts are good for protecting your 4-5 grand forged engine but are definitely overkill on a small turbo or n/a build I've bought standard bolts for as cheap as £20 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RadoVirgin 0 Posted March 6, 2013 Hope that did not sound cocky lol was just trying to get my point across that these arp bolts are good for protecting your 4-5 grand forged engine but are definitely overkill on a small turbo or n/a build I've bought standard bolts for as cheap as £20 Where would you recommend getting bolts from ? I get discount at gsf but have heard a couple of horror stories regarding soft bolts. What I'm stressing about is the torque loading procedure, to set it to a required load and then add half a turn is very alien to me being from an air engineering background. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RadoVirgin 0 Posted March 6, 2013 Don't worry I just bought a set of febi bilstein head bolts from eurocarparts. Should have been £33 but they are doing 25% off car parts so I got them for £25 delivered for free! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vr6turbo 10 Posted March 6, 2013 Think there the ones i ended up getting Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
