My truck is a transition year 1979. It has 4 headlights, so a 1978 mechanically for all purposes.

I’ve had problems getting my head gasket to seal correctly. Using the factory recommended bolts, I discovered that even though my torque wrench clicked at 58 foot pounds it was not correct. It was less. The threaded portion of the bolt bottomed out on the block before actually reaching a true 58.giving a false reading.I finally ordered a set of (Chinese) bolts that we’re about 1/4” shorter than the factory length. They torqued correctly.
Yotashop carries these bolts for about $40. Much cheaper than factory original.

 

Hey what ever works!! Haha I truly believe you just had debris at the bottom of the bores because I ran into this exact problem with my 22re. I used a thread chaser and it knocked everything to the bottom.. I then used wd40 to loosen everything, and sucked it out with a cheap vacuum pump(hand operated). If the bolts can't be threaded by hand all the way down, your torque reading will always be off. Using shorter bolts also helps, but I keep reading that they stretch faster due to their lower tensile strength.

 

I retapped all threaded bores with a M12x1.25 bottoming tap. Then used compressed air to clean out any debris, followed by .38 caliber bore clean patch.
The bores were clean and debris free.

The problem with the factory bolts wasn’t that they were hitting the bottom of the bores, but the threaded portion of the bolt ended before it could get down to the proper torque. I went through 3 Felpro gaskets before finally finding a factory original on e-bay. The felpro gasket seemed to be of a much thinner construction than factory original.

As far as the bolts go, the Chinese bolts at $40 were beefier than the Toyota factory bolts. They looked closer to what the original 1979 bolts looked like. The threaded portion was also slightly longer.

What was so frustrating to me was despite everything I did, the new gaskets would leak. I knew the mating surfaces were spotless. The head just back from the shop. So on the last install after reaching 58 ft. lbs, I set the torque wrench to 62 ft. lbs. (FSM says 52-62 lbs). I indexed the socket with some tape and watched the bolt head for movement. It clicked out at 62 but the bolt didn’t move at all. My eureka moment. I installed the shorter bolts and the head works perfectly now. If the factory bolts had an extra 1/4” of thread, they would probably have worked.

I wanted to put this out here in the event anyone else has this same problem. YOTASHOP provided the bolts. Highly recommend.

 

Oh damn. Have you milled the head down that far that it moved the bolts further down the bores?! ..or do you think you were using 20r head bolts?! I wonder why you ran out of thread so fast.. I know felpro makes different thicknesses on the gaskets but I've never seen a couple mill difference make the gasket NOT seal.. interesting.

 

Head was not milled. I think the replacement head bolts they’re making today lack sufficient thread depth to properly seal the block. I bought from two different manufacturers, both having factory stock part numbers.

I’m sure I probably only needed and additional 1/8 inch. Just couldn’t get it with these bolts.

I thought about running a die down the factory bolts to pickup additional threads, but the way they’re manufactured the shaft narrows slightly at the top of the threads. I probably had an additional 3/4” of bolt hole available if needed. Just couldn’t get past the thread stop.