ARPM Head Stud Installation w/o head removal?

I feel silly for even asking, but I've removed bolt #1 and installed stud #1, and I'm not sure how a torque sequence works when I'm replacing one bolt at a time, given there are three passes on the torquing.

1. remove all bolts, replace with studs, then install nuts and torque in 3 passes. ruin existing head gasket, allow coolant to flush into cylinders.

2. remove one bolt, install one stud, install nut, torque to 80#. repeat. this way, the effective clamping force holding the head to the block and squeezing the gasket is reduced from stock clamping to 80#, then raised back to 125%

3. remove one bolt, install one stud, torque to 80, then 100, then 125, repeat. In this case, I don't know what the purpose is of three separate torque phases.

4. some combination of the above. after installing all and torquing all to 80 or 100, then do one last pass at 125, etc.


Any thoughts on this? I'm literally halfway through the job and didn't think to seek clarification until now. Thanks to anyone who can help!

Forgive the typos in the prior post; I'm in a rush and didn't think to proof my work.

When the 6.0 powerstroke guys (who ought to know a thing or two about head studs!) do the one stud at a time, they do it like you said in #2

In the proper torqueing sequence, start at the first bolt (most engines its somewhere in the middle of the head). Remove that bolt, and dont touch any of the others. Install stud, and torque down to something like 80. Then go to #2, remove bolt, install stud, torque to 80, etc. Once you do all the bolts to 80, torque to...I dont know 100, go through the sequence, then 120

I'm just throwing numbers out there, just as an example.

I used method #2. No troubles.

I feel silly, but I didn't clean/replace the coolant bottle before the job, so I'm not sure if the carbon particles in the bottle are new or old. Any quick and dirty ways to tell if the head gasket is leaking with the new studs?

On another note, how many times can those ARP2000 studs be reused before they need to be replaced? Thinking I'll have a head gasket, rods, and pistons handy for when the head gasket does bite the dust, assuming it hasn't...

Buy a new coolant reservoir and see if it stays clean. They are cheap.

The studs are not torque to yield. You can reuse them as many times as you like.