HOW TO MACHINE FOR SCREW IN STUDS

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:19]Hey, I'm working on a set of small block Chevrolet cylinder heads for a subscriber.

[00:00:24]We're doing a long block for him. We're going to be putting screw-in studs in it, new valve guides, installing some hardened seats in the exhaust, along with some high-performance stainless steel valves.

[00:00:36]Uh-oh.

[00:00:37]I got to figure out what happened there.

[00:00:39]Oh, there it goes. That'll work perfect.

[00:00:42]Hey, happy Wednesday. How are we doing?

[00:00:45]Let me get these heads glass beaded and then I'll get to machining on them. So, these are matching factory cores. Not only they're 993s, but they were made one right after the other one.

[00:00:55]Look in this water jacket.

[00:00:57]See that B63?

[00:00:59]This head says B64. Now, it's pretty rare for Chevrolet to mark them that way, but this these castings were marked that way. They also went through a production shop and were done by two different people and somehow went on the same engine. It's kind of incredible.

[00:01:11]I'll show you how I know. Here's where I can tell. Here's one head.

[00:01:15]Take a close look at them guides.

[00:01:18]Okay, got it?

[00:01:21]Now, look at these guides.

[00:01:27]See the difference?

[00:01:29]So, you guys can pause it if you want and put your answer down in the comments. See if you're right.

[00:01:34]Okay, here's the answer. The guy that did this head cared about his work and took pride in himself. And he spot-faced these before he he put the guides in.

[00:01:45]This guy didn't give a [ __ ] Look at those things.

[00:01:48]It'll function just fine, but it just looks like [ __ ] I'm going to spot-face those the best I can. It's still going to have a little crumbliness to it, but it'll look a lot better.

[00:01:57]Hey, I was wrong about these things being cast at the same time run around the other.

[00:02:03]Hey, I was wrong about that date code inside.

[00:02:06]These heads were not cast one right after the other. Evidently, that number was the inner mold and they were made one after the other, but they were cast at different times of the day. So, this head was made June of '71 on the 22nd, but So, here's that casting. Over here is what I'm talking about.

[00:02:25]See that clock? This thing was made at at noon.

[00:02:29]And this head earlier in the day in the morning time. This doesn't have 12 hands like a clock. There's only 10.

[00:02:35]So, they were made the same day, but at different times of the day, maybe even a different shift. I don't know.

[00:02:41]It's kind of crazy that these heads went through a production shop, uh two different people doing each head, but then it went on the same engine.

[00:02:49]Typically, in a production shop, they will you know, they just do heads do heads and stack them and shelf them.

[00:02:54]Some production shops don't even care if they do the same casting number on cylinder heads. I worked at a shop like that and I didn't like it and I always tried to pair them up to match for heads. Took the time to do it. You know, and they just say, "Oh, it doesn't matter. They're all They're both 194s."

[00:03:08]Well, they're not the same and that's not right, either. Let's get these screw-in studs put in these things.

[00:03:13]Before I do anything, I'm going to fix the tops of these guides.

[00:03:18]I'm just pushing these down out of the way.

[00:03:43]There you go. That'll look a lot nicer when I kick them guides out. I'm going to take the guides out from the combustion chamber side. And I could have used a seal cutter on this, but I felt no need to beat it up. Now, let's pull these studs.

[00:03:55]That absolutely served no function what I just did, but my name's going on this engine and I won't want anybody thinking I did the guides like that.

[00:04:03]Hey, now I got a level to do the stud work.

[00:04:05]Okay, now we need some tools.

[00:04:08]The first thing I'm going to do is machine the bosses down with this.

[00:04:12]Then I'm going to pull them with my stud puller.

[00:04:15]I'm not doing that by hand. I'm going to power that socket with my machine.

[00:04:19]Then I'm going to drill them. Even though they're 3/8 already, I'm going to chase the holes.

[00:04:24]And then I'm going to tap them 7/16 14.

[00:04:28]Then I'm going to eat some yogurt so I got some place to put the tapping fluid.

[00:04:33]I forgot. I got to chamfer them, too, before I tap them. Let's get going.

[00:05:55]You got to keep picking the tool up and let it breathe, or else it'll get caught up in there. It fits the stud pretty tight.

[00:06:05]All done.

[00:06:06]There you go. That made a pretty big mess, didn't it?

[00:06:10]There you go. That's a lot better, huh?

[00:06:13]Hey, that cleanup was made possible by today's sponsor, Chip Be Gone. You should get yourself a can.

[00:06:20]Okay, we're ready to pull. I put a little bit of oil on all the studs and I got the socket and the collar on.

[00:06:26]Okay, now it just screws down on there.

[00:06:32]Back it off one turn.

[00:06:38]The reason I said to back this off one turn is because as this nut is pulling the stud, this will slowly rotate and go down and jam and bind on that stud.

[00:06:46]It'll be hard to get out of tool.

[00:06:49]So, here we go.

[00:07:12]That's one.

[00:07:18]This funky little adapter socket I made popped out of the chuck.

[00:07:21]Okay, let's try it again.

[00:07:26]Damn, that one had some grip.

[00:07:30]So, I made this adapter out of a just an extension. It's not a socket. And I just hand ground some some little flats on it. They're not precision at all and it just popped out, came loose. No big deal.

[00:07:42]Okay, the next step is to knock off that sharp edge with this chamfer. Oh, no, actually, no, it's not. Here's the next step.

[00:07:48]See those little edges there? We got to get those precisely removed like this.

[00:07:57]Okay, here we go. I'm not going to measure this. I don't even measure these heights of these pedestals. I just I just cut them. I know how to cut them.

[00:08:04]Done it before.

[00:08:05]Here we go.

[00:08:07]There.

[00:08:15]There you go. Well, there's not very many chips here at all.

[00:08:20]There you go.

[00:08:24]Get some. I'm telling you. Now, I'm just going to drill them all 3/8.

[00:08:31]It'll go through the water.

[00:08:44]Okay, I'm ready to tap. These exhausts go all the way through the water and I don't have to worry about stopping the tap when it goes through. The intakes, um they also go through the water, but then at the bottom of these the end top of the intake port. So, I can't pass all the way through. I might have to bottom tap these by hand. The tap's going to slip a bit, um that's okay. It's better than it busting. But, here we go.

[00:09:13]That's going to slip a lot. Let me tighten it. Hang on. Okay, now I really tightened it. You don't want to make it too too tight. You want it to slip. Here we go.

[00:09:23]>> [music] >> Now, the more I use this, the harder it gets. It'll grip better.

[00:09:48]All done.

[00:09:49]There you go. They're ready for the studs. Now, I'm not putting guide plates on these. I'm going to let the factory slotted pushrods hold them. It's got a really small cam, but if had a great big cam, we'd put plates on it, too.

[00:10:00]Let me get the other head in here. Hey, I got the second head in here and I realized I didn't show you how I level this head. I just use the level I use when I'm putting in guides and seats.

[00:10:09]But, don't use it this way. It won't work.

[00:10:12]I'm not going to tell you how I do it.

[00:10:15]I can't give away all my secrets. Hey, I'm not going to film this head. I'll just show you every step after I'm done with it. So, here we go. There you go, they're milled down. Now, let me spray them clean. There you go.

[00:10:26]And now for another great product by the same company.

[00:10:30]Studs be gone.

[00:10:33]Sorry, I can't help it.

[00:10:35]I'm not sorry. Here we go. There you go.

[00:10:37]Simply amazing, isn't it?

[00:10:40]The company is currently out of stock on their tapping spray. So, I'm going to have to tap myself.

[00:10:47]Chamfered.

[00:10:50]Drilled.

[00:10:53]And now they're tapped.

[00:10:55]There's one more thing I got to do before I call this stud job done.

[00:10:59]There's a little lip right here that my cutter didn't reach. I don't have to cut it off there, but obviously I'm going to, right?

[00:11:06]Here you go. I just knocked that off with a right angle grinder.

[00:11:10]Set of screw-in studs on a small block Chevrolet heads. Okay, that second head took 32 minutes to machine without doing all the filming. The first head was a little over 3 hours.

[00:11:20]I don't mind doing it, though. I I like to film what I'm doing and let you guys see how the process goes. So, this is the first leg in the journey on this uh build. I don't build a small block Chevy without putting screw-in studs in them cuz you can't trust the press fit from the factory. Thanks for coming along in this Wednesday, you guys. You guys come back and see me again, all right? And be nice to each other.

[00:11:38]Bye.