the guy at advance auto told me the head studs stretch after you use them the first time and need replacing after you rebuild. i asked him if i could just use some washers to space inbetween the valve cover and the nut on the top of the valve cover bolt. anyone here done that before? is it a bad idea?

 

need to check the grommets that the v/c studs go through.

if the grommets are good shape then check and make sure the v/c gasket didnot slip out of the groove of the v/c.

if that all looks good check and make sure you didnot over torque the v/c nuts b/c if they get over torqued they will break and you will need new studs.

as far the studs stretching the guy advance auto does not know what he is talking about.

the theaded part of the stud is about 5mm dia. and the stud is about 6 or 7mm dia. and the treads would twist off before you would stretch the studs.

 

someone confused head studs and valvecover studs.

 

just check and see if your gasket is seated in the groove, if RTV doesnt fix the problem then get a new one

 

RTV is ----, go get a new one.

 

just replace the gasket, its cheap