Head Bolts for 4.0 head swap

[SenorCole86]

The guys says he's got two kinds, some that look to be normal and some that "have extra threads on top for mounting something." Wasn't there some valve cover that mounted up using these studs and is that what he is talking about? Which bolts would I need . . . or is it half and half?

I'm also looking at upwards of 60 bucks for these things. Do y'all have any better ideas? I looked around and couldn't find anything.

[jay79cj7]

I had to use the type that matched the head and not the block. The heads of the old head bolts did not fit into the 4.0 head because of the proximity of some protrusions to the bolt head. I don't recall having a choice of bolt types for my 97 head. I can tell you that there were 3 different kinds of bolts. Some were just standard bolts, some had threaded studs protruding from the bolt heads, and some had a non-threaded post protruding from the bolt heads. The non-threaded posts hold the valve cover gasket in place. I don't know what the threaded studs are for... They are not used on mine. Perhaps engine hoisting? Seems like I paid more like $30-40 for mine at a local parts store. By the way, you need an odd type of socket for these bolts. I think it was a 12 point deep socket, and I had to go to a half-dozen stores to find one.