retorque head bolts?

[dunes450r]

Sorry but retorquing used stock bolts is a horrid idea. They have already yielded. Ideally you would use studs so the torque is actually even but if not then new bolts are the minimum. Running a head that has bolts at different torque could cause warpage...

except cummins head bolts aren't a torque to yield design. they're designed for multiple uses/torques

[Remps]

My bolts on the 96 are torqued to 130, been beating it pretty hard. Cheapo headgasket is holding up just fine. Gona put a cheapo oil pressure boost gauge in it after payday and see how much boost it makes. I kinda want it to blow up so I can put a properly pumped 12 valve in it. One should chase the threads on bolts and bolt holes before retorquing as well, usually lots of carbon build up in the bottom of the bolt holes. Carbon compression could lead to one thinking the bolt is stretching when it is just jamming up gunk in the bolt hole.

[BobS]

Sorry but retorquing used stock bolts is a horrid idea. They have already yielded. Ideally you would use studs so the torque is actually even but if not then new bolts are the minimum. Running a head that has bolts at different torque could cause warpage...

except cummins head bolts aren't a torque to yield design. they're designed for multiple uses/torques

Only partially correct. The Cummins head gasket set usually comes with a test measurement gauge that measures the maximum permissible length of the used bolts. If the bolt or bolts exceed the maximum length they should be replaced. In recent years nearly all of the Cummins replacement head bolt sets are the torque to angle type. The new replacements are not considered as being a reuse item. I personally do not like this new technology. To me a click of a torque wrench is more accurate than hanging over a fender trying to TTA a head bolt that you can barely find let alone see.

In every engine that I have rebuilt since 1965 I have run the head bolt torque in sequence in going from snug to maximum torque in steps of 10 ft/lb increments. At maximum torque I rerun all the bolts 1 additional time. Then I let everything set cold overnight. The next day I rerun the maximum torque and call it done. I have never had a head gasket failure or a broken head bolt using this process.