Looking for opinions on this one.

I am working to bring the engine bay on my 442 as close to stock as possible. The head bolt on the passenger side, that normally has the stud for mounting the heat riser is wrong, no stud.

How risky do you think it is to swap that one head bolt for the correct one on an engine that is all together, runs great, etc.? To mess it up just to mount the heat riser seems like a poor trade.

 

i had the same issue a while back and asked the same question about experience with swapping out a bolt and one person replied and said do it, it wont be a problem(can't remember who gave the advise) so i did and i had no head gasket problem with removing/replacing one bolt, just make sure you are accurate with the re-torque

 

I'll vote no problem
oil the bolt threads and contact surface before install.
I have many such used boltstuds.

 

I removed and replaced one broken headbolt on a diesel and had no problem.

 

I think it would be ok. Just do it with the engine cold.

 

I would also consider torqueing it down then re-torgue them all.