Replacing/Sourcing Head Bolts for '79 Spider

[Jed66]

I am desperate to find some new head bolts for my '79 fiat Spider. The machine shop lost them as they were replacing the valves that were bent when my timing belt went out. Does anyone have a good contact in the States to source them and ship them to me?

[BEEK]

any of this sites respected vendors should have them

[4uall]

This might help

http://www.autoricambi.us/product/EN5-4 ... -Bolt-Set/

have no idea where you are

GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND

[garion]

For the ultimate in snide responses, I present http://lmgtfy.com/. An example: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=head+bolts+for+79+fiat+124+spider

[So Cal Mark]

I offer a set of studs and nuts to replace the stock bolts

[chrisfiat]

doen't even bother with the bolts, used ones will stretch , order the head studs that so cal mark sells, cheaper than a set of bolts and way better for the gasket as well as well

[V12StealthHunter]

Why will they stretch? Its only torqued down to 56lbs. They are not torque-to-yield type bolts either. And how much power are these engines producing? 90hp?

[Jed66]

can I get a quote for the stud and nuts to replace the head bolts on a 79 fiat spider 2000 please.

I offer a set of studs and nuts to replace the stock bolts

[cormac]

http://www.allisonsautomotive.com/products.html

scroll down a little less than 1/2 way, just before suspension, wheels, brakes...between exhaust gaskets and exhaust lock nuts

or call ARP

http://arp-bolts.com/p/technical.php

good luck

[MadBeez]

This article from Hemmings might help: http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/200 ... ure20.html

[MadBeez]

oops sorry, wrong thread

[chrisfiat]

yes i know you would think they would NOT stretch, but they are not the highest quality, and they have been heat cycled many many times, so using them over is NOT recommended. ( and using head bolts on any engine over is a no no to all manufactures) Now as for personal experience ( and i am an ASE master tech, volvo , subaru and vw master tech and have 35 years of work experience) i have had 5 or more stretch on me when re assembling these engines, as i said before , order the arp head studs from allisons automotive, they are less expensive than bolts , they are new , and they will not stretch.

also it is not the power of the engine that causes the bolts to wear, but heat cycling. If you you want to experiment then by all means, but when you are assembling the head, and the bolt just won't torque properly, and you turn it some more and then it breaks, you will finally see why you DON"T re use them

[fiatfactory]

.

[chrisfiat]

If, however, the OE bolts feel 'mushy' when getting close to torque spec, STOP, and remove and inspect...close inspection will reveal the threaded area has begun to stretch and reduce in OD... a snapped off head bolt is a lot more work than just replacing the one that feels mushy...

Mark doesn't sell ARP stud kits... his kits are only 8 grade material too... much lesser quality than the OE spec bolts 10 or 10.9 grade material.

SteveC

grade 10.9 is the metric equivalent to the SAE grade 8, in other words the same thing

i have had over 5 oem FIAT head bolts stretch before they reached anywhere proper torque, and it was there first reuse those are crappy bolts grade 10 or not. you will find NO engine manufacturer tat says reusing head bolts is the procedure they want you to follow, and there is good reason for that . subaru vw and volvo all list heat cycling as one of the reasons to not reuse head bolts once they have been untorqued, and they all have been publishing that for years.
i have used Allisons studs many times, and have motors that have gone 80K with no issues in the studs reuse there studs
you do what you want , this is my considerable experience

[majicwrench]

To get picky, there are still engines that do not require head bolt replacement. And to get more picky, I have never seen Subara say that heat cycling is the reason to change bolts. I'm not from that state, but show me, then I will believe you. And there is no need to change a bolt unless it it stretched. If fiat head bolts were constantly breaking (I'm not having any issues) or head gaskets constantly failing (not here) then you may wish to go to something else.

Studs can stretch and fail just like bolts.