snap on is now manufactured internationally.  I saw a rachet fail today.  not what it used to be.


look at the Husky brand at Home Depot.  they have a good feel, and are machined well. Can't speak to the accuracy 


of the torque wrenches though.

BTW, I've never seen a gasket like that.  Do the head while it's off. Valve job, and maybe guides if needed.

I agree with above you need a grade 8 nuts and no lock feature of any kind, should be motor oied and clean threads. We test a lot of torque wrenches at work and many are crap, never had a bad snap-on but you pay for it.

I agree with Mike.  The nylock nuts are hurting you, not helping you.  Get either new studs from our host or ARP studs.  Summit racing sells ARP nuts for very reasonable price, 12 pieces of the 12-point 3/8-24 for $13.  If you want hardened washers for installation between the nuts and the head, BP Northwest sells 3/8 thru hardened washers for $0.54 each.   

The only time I've ever seen a small bore burn through a head gasket out the side is when it was under boost (turbocharged).

1) your nylocks are a problem-- they will not give you a true torque reading when you clamp it down.

2) get your head decked/Flattened. Measure till the cows come home. But get it cleaned up anyway. Cheap enough "insurance" to make sure it's flat.

3) I don't know what the gunk is in your water jackets, but I sure hope you aren't putting anything on the head gasket prior to putting it on.

4) clean the head and block really well with a lint free cloth and brake cleaner prior to reassembling.

5) It is VERY likely your studs are toast/stretched and no longer provide the proper clamping force. ARP head studs aren't impossibly expensive.  206-4201 is the part number and I just found some for under $80 delivered using google. They are infinitely reusable and you gotta figure original ones are going on at least 30+ years old now.

6) make sure you follow the torque sequence and do it in 3 steps until you are up to proper torque.

What do you guys think? 

Also it should be noted that The studs Are factory studs and the nuts I used were just Nylock nuts from Ace Hardware. You guys think maybe they just streched and caused the leaks? 

Ok guys so solved my Carb problem- (2 HS4s are too much for an 850), and put one on with a new manifold. Car ran great. First time I got to actually drive it up to speed! Drove it around for like  3 days. Ran well. Well on day 3 sounded like we had an exhaust leak which got really loud all the sudden, then we diagnosed it. Cylinder 1 was pushing air out the side of the head under T-Stat housing. Then I saw some coolant bubbling out of Cylinder 4. Now this is the 3rd head gasket ive done on this car. The first and second were leaking from cylinders 2&3 into the water jacket and just blowing coolant out of the radiator. This time it sealed and we drove it. Car Never overheated on this headgasket. I measured the block and head with a straightedge and everything was perfectly true. I don't know how this keeps blowing gaskets is this a common issue? Should I use Fiber / copper? Coppercoat Or Dry? Red Rtv, black rtv, grey rtv? Any help would be appreciated. Going to take the head off tonight to see where the leak pattern is.