Hot tightening cylinder head nuts?

[Steve Jones]

Alan and Malcolm, you are not understanding how I tighten the head down possibly I didn’t explain things correctly.  I do everything the same as you do fitting the head to correct tightness filling with coolant and then running the engine to running temperature.  I then do the final tightening whilst hot. I don’t let it cool down before the final tightening.

John Mason.

For steel heads, I do exactly that and have done for many years. For aluminium heads I always let the engine cool down before tightening. For both I re-check the head nuts regularly over the next few days at 20 ft lbs until they stop taking any further torque. Malcolm and I know someone who usually forgets the last bit and who regularly experiences head gasket failure!!

Steve