Original head studs on my '74?
 

I took a look last Friday and sure enough, the barrel nut for cyl #3 was rolling around loose. I put it back on the head stud and torqued it to spec and it held and so did the others on that side. I didn't check the other side yet. I know it's inevitable that the stud will continue to pull and the barrel nut will loosen again... I'm hoping to postpone this until the fall as we are beginning our home improvement project now. Unfortunately, I need to wait until the fall (October-November) to get the "drop and swap" done. I checked the receipt for the rebuild the PO had done on my engine and in 1994 the bottom end rebuild was done with valves, rings, etc... But the cylinder head studs were not replaced, so I must still have the original studs on the block! They held for 30 years, which isn't too bad, but my '74 doesn't have thermal reactors and it does have the front-mounted, Carrera-style oil cooler, so that must have helped! Is it possible that these are the original head studs?

Rebuild without the studs reinforced = poor quality job by the shop that did the work previously. Anyone worth salt knows to replace these when doing any type of work to the engine...

That said, you can sometimes get many more miles out of the engine by tightening them back up again and again...

-Wayne

Wayne,
Thanks! I'll try the "check and tighten" approach until I can replace the engine with a 3.0L. I'm doing a home improvement project right now and don't have the time/money to replace the engine this summer. I just found it strange that a shop would do a "rebuild" and not replace the head studs...

if they tighten up, they're not pulled. the reason they continue to loosen is that the mating surfaces are not all on the same plane. the cylinder bases on the case are probably worn from the loose cylinders working around on them. the center cylinder base is usually lower than the others due to movement of the mag case. the cylinder tops and the heads are probably worn from being loose too. typical 2.7 problems that should be addressed on a proper rebuild.

John,
Thanks for the info. I thought the loose barrel nuts meant the studs were pulling, so I was surprised that I could tighten them down again. I'm going to keep checking them and tightening as necessary until I swap the 2.7 with a 3.0 engine this fall/winter. Thanks again for the info, I respect your opinion and the knowledge that goes with it!