question for people using aftermarket head bolts?

[DZEE'S LX]

Mach 1,

I noticed the same thing the other day when I dug through the ARP box looking for the stud/bolt.

I totally agree with your caution(I'm an aerospace type myself).
You can see that the bracket is there to reduce movement and stress to the joint. Without it the joint is the subject to whatever vibration & shaking that the line sees, in addition to the movement when the motor rocks in the motor mounts.

Welding a stud onto the ARP bolt is a really good idea.

I ran a thread chaser down the stock bolt and plan to use it with one of the ARP washers in an attempt to duplicate the torque that the rest of the bolts will see.

Now that I think about this, I'm gonna go out and see if I might be able to bend that flimsy bracket around so that I could use another nearby (non-head) bolt...........

Let me know what you end up doing. I'm torkin those heads in tomarrow someway or another!

Dan