The official Service Training manual published by Vauxhall doesn't mention the need for renewing the head bolts on the OHV engine. I assume then that there is no need to renew them.
Editor of the VVOC Magazine ReVival
"When you have a Firenza like mine, who needs any Minis?" copyright David Maxwell 1979.
I do have a Haynes and an Autobook but wondered what it said in the service manual. I have never really been a fan of Haynes manuals, they normally tell you to remove bits etc but don't tell you how to or any little tricks to do it.
I find the Haynes manuals of that era very good, in many instances they give far more information than the Vauxhall training manuals, the exploded diagrams in the Haynes manuals seem to be identical to the Vauxhall manuals as well
I have just replaced the head gasket on my 1256 with mixed success. I reused the head bolts and found them to be fine, however for some reason three of them came loose and I ended up with water in all four bores.
They should be fitted dry and torqued to 55, make sure they are spotless under the head of the bolt.
Do NOT use Hylomar use Wellseal as recommended by the manual.
I found the Haynes manual far more informative than the proper Vauxhall manuals which really are quite poor.
1958 CA Bedford Dormobile (Porthole) 1960 Vauxhall Cresta PA 1975 Vauxhall Viva E Coupe
Could there be debris in the bottom of the bolt holes for the ones that came undone, so when you reach the torque setting it's because the bolt is bottoming out rather than tightening against the head?
vauxhallbitz wrote: They should be fitted dry and torqued to 55, make sure they are spotless under the head of the bolt.
Do NOT use Hylomar use Wellseal as recommended by the manual.
I have the Wellseal ready, Could you check the torque, you say 55, my Haynes says 43 lb/foot which is equal to 58.3 nm. My Autobook manual says 49 lb/ft or 66.44 nm.