I hope I did the right thing by following my machine shop's advice. I got a "Pinning kit" for my 302. The machine shop dude said with the slightly heavier springs the pin kit would be good insurance for keeping the pressed in studs in place. I know the best way to go is to get scew in studs. ( the last thing I need would be to break a tap off in my new heads) so... With a few bucks left i got the pin kit. There was not much room on the stud boss to get a drill bit on it. only a 1/4 of an inch. So I center punched them real good and drilled on through at a slight angle. This I am thinking will give the pin/stud the added support. Its a hell of a time to ask if I did the right thing! hehe What do ya'll think?
after just tapping a set of heads for screw-in studs, I think it would've been easier to go that route. Not much room to get a drill in there to pin them. It will keep them from moving, though, at least 'til the pin breaks. It probably wont unless you run a solid roller cam with 500 lb springs, but still, screw in studs CANT move unless the head breaks. They're easy to install too...just use a new tap. Cast iron wears out old ones real quick....I broke one off in the head, then went and bought a new tap, worked better than any I've ever used. It was a tip from a fellow machinest. Chances are that non-pinned studs werent gonna move, but pinning them will add some extra insurance for sure. I ran stock studs/rockers with 5/16" posi-locks for adjustment for 2 years on the '74, spun the crap out of it several times on missed shifts (7000+rpm) never had a problem.
