Has anyone out there run into clearance problems with arp head studs hitting thier gen 2 stainless marine exhaust manifolds. I'm putting together a 502 with Merlin Grumpy Jenkins heads and a B&M 250 blower. I'm tossing around the idea of using studs instead of bolts due to boost. I really don't know that studs are needed but I'd rather do it now if it will help help from possibly blowing a head gasket. I'm just a little concerned with the siamese cylinders on a 502 and that there is not a whole lot of gasket between the cylinders. I am using cometic head gaskets, which should help out. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Mark

if you use a cyl head with stock exhaust port location,you will have a problem,im not sure,because i have never used that head,but i am guessing it has raised exhaust ports,and you will be ok.worst case scenario,you use bolts on the bottom row and stud all the rest,i have done this with edelbrock marine heads,and it works great.

On my motors, only the nuts hit the exhaust, so I took off the washers and then they worked fine.

You can either bolt the bottom row or grind the tops of the studs once they are torqued, standard heads.

spend the few more dollars and get the 12 point nuts,,they allow a little more clearance.

fix,i had the 12 pt nuts with the edelbrock heads,with imco powerflow exh,damm things still hit.

Glad I brought this topic up! Given my application (502, 250 blower, cosmetic head gaskets...running around 5-6 lbs of boost) is it nessessary to run arp studs or would arp head bolts work just fine. I'm just a little concerned about blowing a head gasket. This is my 1st blower motor so I'm getting into a gray area that I'm unfamilur with. Thanks, Mark

Me too, but with KEs. I ground the top of the studs off. Bottom and middle row needed it.