[russcc]

Thanks for all the experience. Now I know why Vern Tardel uses head bolts instead of studs. But, I won't be removing the NOS studs as they are Ford, the best there is. I am almost to the point the head slides on almost all the way.

I used steel blueing in the ID of the stud holes in the heads and slid the head on. When I take it off you can see where a few studs are scraping the blue off because they are not straight.

I don't believe it's the studs, some of the stud hole threads in the deck are not perfect, and may be causing the studs to not be exactly vertical, or 90 degrees to the deck. I have used the tap the studs with the brass bludgeon and that works pretty good. I check them with a machinist square when I can get a flat surface to work off.

Question, how tight should crank the studs into the deck ?

That's interesting point about the later aftermarket head studs holes being drilled oversize. The heads are older Navarro's I bought directly from Barney at his shop in Glendale so they are not the new junk, and have standard size stock holes. I wouldn't go to the point of drilling them all out, but I have drilled out several in the Bridgeport from the original 15/32"s, .016 to 31/64"s and that has helped.

Patience in all that we do, and we will get the ultimate reward of job well done right. As W. Edwards Deming said; "There is no Instant Pudding"

Thank you all.