Ford 172 Head

Khendress

Member
Ford 172 head bolts come in 2 sizes I have learned and when asked what size bolt is in your motor you have to extract the bolt and measure I have learned, so I have a head with 7/16 holes and my block uses 1/2 bolts on head,Question Can the holes in Head be drilled out to 1/2 so I can use this head or did I waste 700 dollars? It is a good used head.
 

Well that's only .030" (half of 1/16") of metal removed, but I'd check with some one more knowledgeable about this first.
 
dont see why not, do some checking as if they went to 1/2 bolts then it must be a newer engine. what year is your's? wow thats a lot for that head. all the old versatile swathers used that engine.
 
Can't you switch out of the bolts and use studs with different threads on each end, with a nut on the top end to tighten
down the head? Also, make sure you have the correct sized head gasket if you switch to studs.
 
Not sure about adding studs into block that are 1/2 and then reduce to 7/16 going into head then adding nut on top of head with the amount of space , does not sound doable.
 

Ive done this for people wanting to put 302 heads on a 351w. Never understood why but Ive had more than a few people wanting to do it. The head bolts are perpendicular to the gasket surface so its pretty easy. If thats not the case with your head you may want to have a machine shop do it. Otherwise just chamfer the the top of the hole so the bit will center and go slow with lots of lube. On the heads I did I would ream them out to .530 to allow for thermal expansion. Are you alignment dowels going to allow for drilling out the head bolts?
 

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