whats the best way to prep the block for a stud and head gasket job? Also i bought arp studs and what i believe to be black onyx gasket from a guy on craigslist for $350, are these gaskets that bad or should i sell them and go with oem or the new black style ones? thanks guys!

 

Sell the Black ox and get the Fored factory gaskets. The black ox are too thin and will fail and you will be doing them again, the ford ones should be around $135 a side and they come with the new stand pipe too. The ARP studs will say torque to 210-215FTlbs, I would torque to 240ft lbs, seems all the shops are doing that to ensure they hold with no problems. For the block prep I use the GREEN scotch-brite discs on an angle die grinder, they clean the surface great without removing metal.

 

cool man thanks for the info, where do you get these discs at i have never seen them? i am so burnt out on getting parts for this project, i ordered everything on line except for coolant(btw if anyone is in amarillo cat has full strength coolant for 25 a gallon and napa has the zerex full strength for 13.22 a gal), restore and restore +, and the studs.

 

Napa stocks them!

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Most auto parts store have them, even Harbour Freight has them
2"& 3" Fiber Disc Sanding Kit
this basically what you are looking for, the arbor and the discs, you want the green ones as they are not as course as the red/orange ones. I try to always have a couple dozen handy, I use them alot to clean gasket sufaces.

 

I wouldn't dare use a fiber disc. I thought we were talking plastic. I learned a painful lesson on the fiber disc a long time ago...they can remove material. Try one on a coke can and you'll see what i mean. I use these : http://www.3m.com/product/informatio...stle-Disc.html
There are videos on youtube on the product. A little more expensive but much more forgiving and work much better. I'll still use a fiber for big clumps of gasket to make it faster but once the gaskets gone im back to plastic. One of the most widely used methods is bar stock the width of the deck in a pair of vice grips. Never tried it but lots of people use that method.

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To be honest with you I had never seen them before, looks to be a realy nice abrassive. I will have to try them out myself.

 

I was using fiber disc when i first started and still occasionally do. Over the last 8 years I've had incidents where i wish i hadn't been using them that cost me time and money, now i look for a safer alternative that isnt as aggressive. Ive found these last 10 times as long and you can hold the coarse on a coke can wide open for 60 seconds without removing material.
Also much better on cleaning uneven surfaces with rounding edges.
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