does anybody know what standard oe head bolts are rated to, or what can i get away with.

or what boost are people running with there heads still on

dont want to fork out for arp's when oe is surficiant for a v8 sti bottom end

 

well i have heard that some poeple say you can run a good 350 on standard bolts so if your is standard then by standard but if you want to run over 1.2 bar then arp head bolts is the way to go really dude

 

Yep, if you're unsure, best to get ARP or Cosworth OEM 11mm sized replacements. The ARP a keener on price compared to the Cossies...

 

more money

i know its probably best going to be running an 18g on 550's in a classic so i want to be able to keep the heads on. just thought the v 8 sti motor was capable of running 450 bhp in standard form, so the bolts to?

 

I understood head bolts were good up to 450, as in the STI and head studs were applicable after that. I think it's more about the amount of boost you want to run so bolts up to 1.6/1.7bar, studs thereafter.
Trev