z28beast

ok so i heard that i should use permatex no.2 but i cant find it anywhere....can i use "the right stuff or no? what do u recommend besides no.2

Stl94LT1

94zrag

I've always had good luck with teflon paste.

jasonface

any non-hardening thread sealant, I think fel-pro makes some as well. I've seen it or the permatex at pretty much every Auto Zone or Pep Boys I've been in.

z28beast

cool thanks guys...i went to orealy's, advanced auto, and autozone looking for No.2...even tried summit....lol i looked up a pepboys (only 3 in mi) and it turned out theres one right buy me...went in there and found permatex No.2 on the shelf...3.99$ picked up a tube and thought i was ready to go.....but now sealant is the very least of my worries...

Injuneer

Permatex No. 2 is a gasket sealant, not a thread sealant. Look carefully at the picture Stl94LT1 posted.

sbs

Based on your many recent threads, I'm gonna have to agree with you there.

jasonface

I know #2 is called out for a gasket maker/sealant, but I've used it for years on head bolts and other apps where the bolt will penetrate a water jacket. Never had a problem. If there's a drawback to using it, the only thing I've seen is it tends to goop up threads pretty well, and you will have to chase all the threads with a cleanout tap for any R+R on the bolts....but then again, I would never assemble an engine without first chasing all the bolt holes anyways. Same goes for any standard R+R of heads, or anything else requiring specific torque. Can't remember who recommended that stuff to me, but like I said, I've never seen a problem with it

z0s0

I just did my heads a few weeks ago. You'll need two tubes of the thread sealant that was posted above...I used the exact same stuff and barely had enough (two tubes). Also a few suggestions:

1 - Make sure the head bolts go into the right holes. I believe there were 3 sizes.
2 - lube the underside of the bolt head and the underside of the washer with the lube that came with the bolts (if you got ARP) or if not, get some. This is essential for proper torquing. Don't get any on the threads.
3 - Coat each bolt thread with the sealant.
4 - There is a specific torqueing sequence to follow. Follow it...I personally went hand tight the first round, 25 lbs the 2nd round and final torque 70lbs? the final round. If you don't approximate this you'll warp the heads, so I've been told.
5 - Don't damage the head gasket(s) trying to get the heads lined up/placed on the block. There are guide pins on the block that should enter small holes on the heads..try to be precise lowering the heads onto these pins or they WILL gouge your heads.
6 - If you follow shoebox's procedure for tightening the rockers, you will not go wrong. Before doing this I never even took an engine apart before but got it right the first time thanks to shoebox's site.

Injuneer

...

RamAir95TA

Never understood why people use RTV on head bolts. That's like using diesel instead of gasoline.

ACE1252

I've personally seen the #2 get hard and brittle. It did when I used it to seal my oil pan gasket. Now, I went way wrong in using it with the rubber pan gasket. The right stuff was the thing for that.....

However, I have argued for a long time against using #2 on thread bolts. I even called Permatex and they told me not to use #2 on head bolts. Use the high temp thread sealer as above. I've been using it for a long time on the water pump bolts, oil pressure sender, etc with no issues. I will also use it on my head bolts when I put my engine back together(I will wash the block for final assembly this weekend...woohoo!!).

All that said, some swear by the #2 for head bolts. To each his own.