Replace head studs with bolts?

Posted by tnum On 2019/4/15 9:59:00

Hey Packard world!

I'm a new Packard owner and brought home an original condition 1952 300 with a 327 straight 8 paired with an Ultramatic transmission.

I was told that this was running and driving several months ago but a cracked head that was weeping coolant prompted the previous owner to source a replacement head and pull the old one off.

Due to time and money, that's as far as they got.

I've since collected a gasket kit, radiator hoses, fuel filter, spark plugs, and found a cast water neck that fits the head off an unknown (possibly an another older Packard) car. It's cast and I'm sure the original stamped neck was destroyed when it was removed.

The biggest hiccup I have now is I'm debating how to put the head back on. None of the stud nuts were included with the car, so I was able to order some generic 7/16-20 nuts that should do the trick. However, 5 of the studs are missing and at least one of the threaded holes is stripped.

My question is 2 parts...

First, would I be better off using a helicoil kit on the stripped hole or just drilling/tapping to a larger size?

And second, is it reasonable to remove most of the studs (except 3-4 for locating the head) and replace them with bolts? Maybe with some thread sealer added?

I've read that this can cause coolant leaking problems since the coolant passages are open at the bottom of the threaded holes but I don't see how it would be any better or worse for studs/bolts unless you had to do some work that required taking the head bolts out but not draining the radiator.

Long story short, I'm just trying not to spend a fortune on new head studs as I'm finding them to be between $7-9 each.

Thoughts?

Thanks!