I plan to install my new injectors soon and was wondering if that would be a good time to install head studs.  Can a guy loosen all 26 bolts, then install the studs 'finger tight' one at a time without worrying about the head shifting or otherwise affecting the head gasket?

Or, is it recommended to completely remove the cylinder head and install new gasket when installing studs?

I pulled and replaced mine one at a time. Then I did a retorque. Drove it about a month then did another retorque of 130 ft. Lbs. readjusted the valves both times. This was done about a year or so ago with no issues. 

Do not loosen all the bolts first. Everything I have seen is a one bolt at a time. If you pull all the bolts you might as well do a head job. your seal on the head gasket will be compromised.

What @dripley said. I would begin in the order of the torque sequence. 

Okay, so when a guy takes one bolt out is the stud (nut) torqued all the way?

When I did mine, I pulled a bolt out put in the stud then put the washer and nut on and tighten it to 40 ft/lbs, waited about 30 seconds then tightened it down again to 80 ft/lbs waited again and then tightened to 125 ft/lbs then repeat with the next bolt.  Follow the picture in the kit when you pull the bolts and install the headstuds.  I retorqued after a week.

When I did mine I did one at at time in 3 phases to 105 lbs. When they were all done I went back around in 3 passes with about 30 minutes between at 115 then 125. I then turned the block heater on for about 6 hours and re-did them at 125 and called it good.

OEM bolt torque is about 105, so you are not increasing the torque on the gasket until all the bolts are replaced with studs.

Kind of like my Cummins. Same 3 phase torque method. Final on my ARP425 studs where 125 Foot/Pounds as well. The only difference I never did a second warm torque at all. According ARP themselves a warm or hot torque is not suggested. 424k miles and rolling on the clock.

I just did mine. As others have said, its a one at a time type deal. I used the glacier diesel method which is kind of a pain in the butt, but I do feel a little bit more secure about the install. 

Pro tip...grab a crosscheck paint marker so you and put a line on your stud and the nut so you can watch that your 1/4 to1/2 turn back off of the stud doesn't shift too much on you, and you can one on the nut to keep an eye on those.

Yeah when I did the mine there was no 1/4 or 1/2 turn stuff. I know the final torque was 125 foot/pounds for ARP 425 studs. 

 

 

20 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Yeah when I did the mine there was no 1/4 or 1/2 turn stuff. I know the final torque was 125 foot/pounds for ARP 425 studs. 

 

 

The 1/2 turn was just how much to back the stud out once you bottom it in the block before you put the nuts on. The purpose of the mark  on the stud was to keep track of how far the stud turned back towards bottoming once you started torquing the nuts. 

 I have a few questions about studding the head mainly because it's been a long time since I've done one and it was not a diesel.

 Do you locktite the stud in the block?

How many head bolts are there on a 5.9 24valve?

 I know you really don't need to do studs until a certain power level is reached but, should the original bolts ever be retorqued?

 Lastly, is there any advantage to studding the head if you do not anticipate going above say 300hp?

I reused the head bolts on my HG replacement. Cummins says you can as long as they have stretched to much. Mine fell well within that spec. I never retorqued mine until l had to replace the gasket. As far as when studs are needed l leave that to more knowledgeable. 28 head bolts IIRC.

4 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Yeah when I did the mine there was no 1/4 or 1/2 turn stuff. I know the final torque was 125 foot/pounds for ARP 425 studs. 

 

 

 

It's been part of the install since I did my 05 in 2011. 

1 hour ago, Doubletrouble said:

 I have a few questions about studding the head mainly because it's been a long time since I've done one and it was not a diesel.

 Do you locktite the stud in the block?

How many head bolts are there on a 5.9 24valve?

 I know you really don't need to do studs until a certain power level is reached but, should the original bolts ever be retorqued?

 Lastly, is there any advantage to studding the head if you do not anticipate going above say 300hp?

 

No locktite. 

 

Can't recall the number, it's a few thou!

 

No need to requote stock bolts, and no need for studs at 300 hp. The 6.7 uses bolts and is running 420/1075 for the MY21 motor, you're fine!

I don't remember the instructions saying anything about not putting the studs all the way down in the block and I'm pretty sure I just ran mine down till they stopped and then installed the lubed washer and nut.

It may depends on which version of the instructions you have. I don't think it matters too much if you don't back them out a little. 

4 hours ago, dripley said:

I reused the head bolts on my HG replacement. Cummins says you can as long as they have stretched to much. Mine fell well within that spec. I never retorqued mine until l had to replace the gasket. As far as when studs are needed l leave that to more knowledgeable. 28 head bolts IIRC.

 

 

I reused mine as well, torqued to 120 lbs, with a Napa/Fel-Pro gasket. No retorque, 5 years and 100k miles ago.

17 minutes ago, NIsaacs said:

 

 

I reused mine as well, torqued to 120 lbs, with a Napa/Fel-Pro gasket. No retorque, 5 years and 100k miles ago.

I would have to go and find my instructions but they said to tighten in 3 sequences. The first 2 were given ft pound numbers. But 3rd was turn the bolts 90* more. So l dont really know what my final torque was. I do know that was a lot work doing that 28 times  even on the 24" breaker bar. About 60k on mine and all is still well.

I seated my studs into the bottom of the hole then backed off just slightly. I didn't want it be wedged tighten after another 300k miles somewhere around 700k miles next time.

2 hours ago, dripley said:

I do know that was a lot work doing that 28 times  even on the 24" breaker bar.

Which 2 did you do twice? 
 

I had to go look, because I couldn’t remember, but there are 26 studs/bolts. 

36 minutes ago, AH64ID said:

Which 2 did you do twice? 
 

I had to go look, because I couldn’t remember, but there are 26 studs/bolts. 

Darn sure they were not any where near #6.