Hi guys kinda did a dumb thing. I didn't chase my threads with a thread chaser when I installed ONE of my cylinder head on my stock vortec 5.7... I did drain/ dried all the coolant from block threads, used a wire brush on a drill and also used q tips with carb cleaner to remove any coolant and debris from the threads. The head bolts were kinda hard to initially start, but seemed to torque down just fine after hand tightened with a stubby ratchet. I know it was really dumb not to chase them, my wife is very sick on dialysis so I kinda had to rush. I used a severe duty gasket (fel pro 501sd) and head/block surface was almost flawless. I also used brand new bolts with sealant pre installed on them (fel pro es 72856 I believe number is) Do you think I will be OK on a stock 350 V8 if I somewhat prepped the threads and they were dry of coolant and debris? Just kinda hard to thread in from whatever left over thread sealant I didn't remove and they seemed to torque down pretty well. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

 

I think your fine. Flat rate techs don't chase them unless they see a problem during removal. The heads weren't off for an extended period of time to corrode and the bolts were not torque to yield.