Thread: Head bolts

Hi members ,is 253 and 308 heads the same and if 253 head has been machined accouple of times will the head bolts bottom out,thanks in adance.

Same bolts. They would need a fair bit taken off heads for bolts to bottom out on block. Pays to check the deck/gasket location dowls also

Thanks Beetle123, but what do you mean to check the deck and gasket location dowls???.

There is 2 dowls per side that go into the block to locate your cylinder heads and gaskets. Sometimes if the dowls sit too high they will bottom out on the cylinder head and keep it lifted off the gasket when you torque them down. This causes coolant/oil leaks etc.

Thanks Castiron355 now i know what beetle 123 meant i check it today.

The only bolts that could be different are the two inner bolts each side that go into the valley area, the ones that often have the bosses broken or cracked, there are about 3 different inner boss configurations and bolts. From memory, Short boss and bolt, long boss threaded all the way with long threaded bolt, and long boss only threaded for the bottom half with a similar long but short threaded bolt. But I have no idea what models the changes come from.

I like to make sure the head will sit flat on the block and the bolts will contact the head all without a gasket, this ensures everything fits when assembled with a gasket, its a quick easy check.

Thanks for that mick_in_oz i will check that too cheers.