What a great thread (pun intended). Over the years I have learned a couple lessons (some the hard way) about heads and bolts. As mentioned above, studs can be a bad idea if they do not allow removal of the head without pulling the engine! I've only built a couple aluminum head motors and religiously followed the enclosed instructions from manufacturer (Dart). That said, here's a few pointers that I know for sure apply to cast iron which I hope will be of interest to others.

1. If at all possible, buy new bolts. Summit (my favorite) has a complete SB Chevy kit (ARP) for about $60 that includes washers. If you look at $60 versus the time it takes to "re-do", it really makes a lot of sense.

2. If you reuse - make sure the bolts are spotless. Degrease and then a good bath in hot soapy water (I use Dawn) and a thorough dry with a soft towel and compressed air. If you're not going to use the bolts straight away, put them in a zip lock bag with a shot of lube (WD-40) to keep any moisture out.

3. Run a lubricated bottoming tap down each bolt hole in the block. The lube will catch some of the guck and aid in final cleanup. Do this on every hole every time. I always find a few woolly buggers even after expert machine shop work and hot tank. It’s easier to do it than to find out there’s guck in the hole as you torque the head bolt. The tops of the holes should also be slightly chamfered so the top threads don't pull above the deck surface when the bolts are torqued. A small die grinder works well here. Make sure all the crud and such is cleaned out of the holes.

4. Use washers. It just works and helps prevent galling of the head and helps give a more accurate reading.

5. Use a "spot o' lube" on the threads. I use 10W 30. The key is just a tad. Too much and you can get a nasty condition known as "hydro-lock" where oil is trapped in the blind hole. This especially true with ARP bolts as they have nice tight, very precise threads.

6. Don't forget - if your head bolts extend into a water jacket, coat the threads with a flexible sealer. If you do not use sealer, coolant will almost certainly leak past the bolt.

7. Use a good torque wrench. I have a thirty-five year old Craftsman break away style that's a real gem. I've had it calibrated several times and I treat it like fine china. It has a special, protected place in my tool box that prevents it from clanging around with other tools. The beam type are really pretty good, but can be a real bear to read and as we all get a bit older, the ability to smoothly pull the wrench and check the gauge (through the bi-focals at the "in between" distance) is not so easy.

Final Note - If you have TTY (Torque-To-Yield ) bolts, throw them out and buy new ones. TTY head bolts are usually longer and sometimes skinnier than standard head bolts. The long story is that TTY bolts are “an engineering marvel, bla, bla, bla…” The short story is that they’re from the devil and cannot be torqued using standard tools, rather, an angle gauge that is really not easy to use, especially when the engine is in the car.