Hi all:

 While removing the nuts holding the rocker assembly to the aircooled
 head I was working on, one of the studs started to back out.  After I
 got the rocker assembly off I was able to back the stud completely
 out of the head by hand.

 Since I've never had great luck replacing studs using the "double
 nut" technique (it seems like the nuts start to turn on the stud
 before the stud is fully seated) I decided I'd "chase" the threads in
 the head with the appropriate tap.

 Turning in the tap took considerably more effort than I would have
 expected (the threads in the head *looked* fine) but now the stud
 turns in easily by hand.  In fact, the stud now "rocks" very slightly
 when it's at the correct depth.

 So, are the holes in these heads tapped using some kind of special
 tap (tapered?, 100% taps?), and do you think something like 271
 Loctite will save the day?  Or have I screwed up this head?

 TIA.

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Tom Young               young@sherlock.SIMS.Berkeley.EDU
Lafayette, CA  94549    '81 Vanagon
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