First and foremost, make SURE that the holes are clean and clear of debri. The best way to do this is to spray brake cleaner or intake/carb cleaner down the holes, and use compressed air to blow out the cleaner and debri. Make sure to cover up the cylinders so that crap doesn't get into them though. Make sure to lube up both sides of the studs w/ ARP moly lube (which is included with their bolts), or with 30w oil (Not 10w30, but solid 30w), if you bought them used. Tighten the ARP head studs all the way down with an allen wrench, then back them off about a 1/4 turn (ARP recommends they are hand tight, and this is equivalent). But, beware. When they say handtight, they do not mean tighten them down with your hand. This is just silly because you can't thread the studs all the way down by hand; they won't all be even. What they mean is, thread the studs all the way to the bottom, but do not have the bolts applying any pressure to the block (no torque). You can also use the double nut technique, which is just putting two nuts on the stud, and using a socket or box wrench to tighten the upper nut. This will turn the stud because the lower nut will hold the upper nut in place. This will ensure that they are all at equal height. Do NOT torque the studs INTO the block. This will negate the whole reason you are using studs instead of bolts in the first place. The advantage of studs is this...the block will be "pulling" down on the head, which is the opposite force of combustion, as opposed to the head "pulling" up on the block, in the same direction as combustion, which is what the stock head bolts do. The studs help create a better seal.
