reuse head bolts?

[blkmonday]

i have a 99 taurus with the 3.0 im doing a head gasket, got the heads pulled out today (yes i know happy 4th of july) anyways are the head bolts re-useable, i know on some newer cars they are not. im doing this on a budget. also where can i get the tool used on the head bolts after they are torqued? someone said after you use a torque wrench (i have a really nice s/k) there is a tool that is used to click them a little further? they said its inexpensive but i never heard of this...and need a tool name for the parts place. thanks in advance
frank
ps. the front water jackets were extremely plugged up, that might explain why i didnt have hardly any heat this winter. also i blame the blown head gasket on a faulty coolant recovery tank...the original tank cracked and was replaced with a aftermarket cheapo from china. the pressure cap blew off because the screw on fitting got warped, the car overheated...and the head gasket blew. the gasket was a mess when i took the back head off. there was a lot of water in the oil. so DONT BUY CHEAP AFTERMARKET PARTS! a 20 dollar part cost me all this headache!

[Ian Szgatti]

Concider that your engine over heated. If you have high milage, forget it. if you have under 50k miles... I'd say re-use them, but already worn head-bolts that underwent such conditions leading to faliure would not be good to re-use.

[shorod]

The factory service manual warns in bolt letters to never re-use the head bolts for either of the 3.0L engines. The bolts in the Duratech 24V are torque-to-yield, but not specifically called torque-to-yield for the Vulcan 12V.

The "special tool" that you were told you'll need, which you will, is a torque-angle wrench. You may be able to "rent" one from your local chain auto parts store or purchase it from them or from maybe even a place like Sears.

-Rod

[RickMN]

Torque angle wrench is needed with torque-to-yield bolts. You tighten the bolts in stages to allow the metal to stretch. Once you've torqued to the final stage, you attach this meter and turn the bolt the specified number of degrees. That stretches the bolt the final amount. Go too far and you'll snap the bolt. http://www.lislecorp.com/tool_detail.cfm?detail=392

http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDi...ookup=LIS28100

[blkmonday]

thanks for your advice guys! the links were really helpful too. this is my first head job on a "newer" car with the torque to yield bolts. i got ne bolts but its sunday and the "real" parts stores are all closed and forget autozone, pep boys and advanced auto...they have no clue what im talking about. i went to all 3 stores this afternoon. one store tried selling me a tourque wrench and insisted thats all i would need. unbelievable! those stores should stick to selling air freshners and those stupid big mufflers they sell for those import rags...and stop saying they are auto part stores. so it looks like im at a standstill till tomorrow when the real stores are open....i bought the rest of the parts from a real store so im sure i got the right parts and good quality parts...little more pricey but im tired of autozones faulty parts

[shorod]

Well, in Autozone and the other chain auto parts stores' defense, they sell parts, but I don't really see them advertise that they sell advice. You get what you pay for (sometimes).

Not to mention that you didn't know what you needed, so why does it surprise you that a parts salesperson, who doesn't necessarily work on cars, doesn't know what you need either?

I'm not trying to offend here, just want to be fair.

-Rod