Forum

[Steve]

Rebuilding my 700 twin Indian Trailblazer (Super Meteor) and cannot find the torque setting for the head bolts. The shop manual says 'tighten'. The new pistons have significantly higher compression ratio so this time I thought it a good idea to properly tighten the head bolts. Using a composite head gasket and reusing the original studs and nuts. New hardened washers. Thanks. Steve

[Mark M]

22-23 foot/pounds. Do not overtighten! Also, the inner nuts need to be tightened first I find, then do a diagonal sequence as normal. Put a smear of gasket cement on both sides of the new gasket too, this helps. You will need to re-torque several times, once after initial fire-up and then after first proper run and also say 100 and 300 miles. Have you put a drill through the stud holes in the head? Before using the new hardened washers it's a good idea to restore clearance by removing excess alloy that got squeezed in there as this will affect torque settings.

REgards, Mark

[Steve]

Mark,
Thanks for the info and the tip on drilling to assure clearance.
Steve