[MadmanMark]

I just got a bad feeling finding a bag of 4 dowels that probably were meant for the engine I put together in 2007. I am using studs instead of bolts. The engine is a Dart LilM with a 4.125 bore and the heads are AFR 210s. Am I asking for trouble or is it not a big deal?

 

[Motorvation]

I had worn out dowels on a BBC. That caused the head to float and wipe out the intake gaskets(sucked oil out of the lifter valley). SBC or BBC, I'd say don't go without them.....

Steve O.

 

[jackie schmidt]

The dowels are there to give the head a precision register on the block, assuring that the intake and all things associated align properly.

You are not the first person to forget them, and there are probably multitudes of engines out there that do not have them.

But............Well, you know.

 

[Wolfplace]

I just got a bad feeling finding a bag of 4 dowels that probably were meant for the engine I put together in 2007. I am using studs instead of bolts. The engine is a Dart LilM with a 4.125 bore and the heads are AFR 210s. Am I asking for trouble or is it not a big deal?

With studs the head is going to be pretty well located
If it was put together 6 years ago & is still running & you have not had a problem you don't have one

 

[65 Skylark]

You are not the first person to forget them,

And then there's our local machine shop who decked a block and didn't remove them. Yup, shaved them right off. It happened to a friend of mine on a Pontiac 400 for his GTO. I'll never take anything to that guy.

 

[MadmanMark]

With studs the head is going to be pretty well located
If it was put together 6 years ago & is still running & you have not had a problem you don't have one

I did have a problem almost right away with coolant seeping out the head gasket but thought that was from using cometic mls gaskets without having the right surface prep. A switch to felpros back then stopped any seeping. Maybe about 15,000 miles have been put on it since then. Do you think not having the dowels contributed to the mls gaskets not sealing?

Next time the heads come off I'll do my best to remember the stud baggie! :sad: