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Head Bolt & Head Stud Kits
Pontiac V8 Head Bolt & Head Stud Kits
Bolts or Studs — Head Bolt & Head Stud Kits for Pontiac V8s
Head bolt and head stud kits are the clamping load that holds a Pontiac head gasket sealed. On a Pontiac V8 the correct kit is decided by year and cylinder head casting, not by displacement — bolt lengths, shoulder diameters and the center exhaust-side bolt all changed through the years, and aftermarket aluminum heads changed them again.
Butler splits this section two ways: Head Bolt Kits for stock-style and ARP bolt sets, and Head Stud Kits for studs with 6-point or 12-point nuts. Both sub-sections cover D-port, round port, Edelbrock and KRE castings, and both include the step washers and the step reamer used to protect aluminum heads.
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More About Head Bolt & Head Stud Kits
1. Which Way to Go — Bolt or Stud
Both hold the head down. They load the block differently and they live different lives on a build.
| Head bolts | the factory approach and the simpler one. A bolt threads in, torques down and comes back out with the head. On a stock or mild rebuild going back together with cast iron heads, a correct-year bolt kit is all the job asks for. |
| Head studs | the stud stays threaded in the block and the nut does the clamping, so the block threads see a steadier pull and head removal does not drag a bolt through them every time. That matters on an engine you expect to come apart again, and on aluminum heads and aluminum blocks. |
2. Year and Casting Decide the Kit
This is the whole question on a Pontiac. Before ordering, read the casting number off the head and know what year block it is going on.
| Early heads | 1961-1964 castings take their own kit, and Super Duty heads are called out separately from that group. |
| Mid-sixties 389-421 | 1965-66 D-port heads are a different kit again, and within that group the 1966 091 through 095 castings use a longer center bolt with a reduced shoulder, so they get their own part number. |
| 1967 and later | D-port heads from 1967-79 share a kit, and round port RA II, RA IV, HO and Super Duty heads share another. |
| Aftermarket aluminum | Edelbrock and KRE heads are not covered by the factory-pattern kits. Edelbrock round port castings even split by manufacturing date. |
3. Torque and What Else the Job Needs
Butler's Pontiac torque chart lists cylinder heads at 95 ft-lbs with engine oil on the threads. If the kit is ARP, use ARP's specification instead of the factory number — their fasteners are not torqued like stock bolts.
| Deck dowel pins | the block-to-head deck dowels are sold separately in the Dowel Pins section, in standard and extra-long lengths. |
| Step washers | for aluminum heads that have been torqued repeatedly, step washers press into the top of the bolt hole and stop the aluminum from collapsing. They require machining the hole with a step reamer. |
| Clean threads | a thread chaser set run through the block holes before assembly keeps the torque reading honest. |
Pick the subcategory that matches how the engine will be used, then match the kit to the casting number, not to the displacement. If the heads are a swap onto a different year block, tell Butler both ends of the combination before you order.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.