2.2L Head stud evaluation

[cstreit]

So I'm rebuilding a 2.2L motor and most of the head studs look perfect. They are all steel. However a few studs have some "surface rust" on them. (in other words it doesn't appear to have compromised the stud, but you can feel it with your fingernail.

Is this a significant issue? I imagine most steel studs pick up some rust since they are exposed and I hate to replace parts "Just because" and become a swapper, but I have some concern about stress risers from visible rust.

Any opinions?

[cgarr]

If you clean them up you will find they are cut on some type of lathe, those tool cuts are worse stress risers than surface rust I would think. I just cleaned up my top 3.2 steels and painted them.

[cstreit]

Yeah, I could definitely feel the 'machining marks' on them.. I think I'll take some slight more aggressive steel wool to them and see how deep the rabbit hole goes...

[cgarr]

Thats something I never liked, you take your finger nail down the stud and it feels like the surface of an old 45 record, you old enough to remember 45's?

[cstreit]

..and 75's I'm sorry to say...

I think I'm just going to replace them.. at $9 per it just ain't worth worrying about!