I'd replace them if the new one is shorter than the old ones...indicates stretch beyond yield.

These things are supposed to be giant strong springs....they're not supposed to yield!!

You might consider ARP bolts. Especially if you're overboosting using a Dawes Device....hmmm.

The Volvo service manuals indicate replacing the head bolts only under two conditions: After being tightened 5 times or more, and if they are measured to be longer than a spec'd length that they list in the service manual (which would indicate somebody overtightened them earlier).

Sorry, I don't have the books in front of me right now, but a quick call to your dealership should give you the bolt lenght numbers. -or someone else reading this post who has the engine books handy could give you the length numbers.

To aleviate any fears you might have, there are some auto manufacturers that use torque-to-yeild head bolts that do require replacement every time they're removed. Fortunately, Volvo is not one of those companies. Personally, I've reused the original head bolts on every head-gasket I've done so far and have had no problems.

God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
--
'87 Blue 240 Wagon, 261k miles.
'88 Black 780, PRV-6, 149k miles.

I really don't think these head bolts are going to do any stretching. The head usually just warps down the middle and the gasket fails between two adjacent cylinders. If you don't see any obvious thread damage or corrosion they should be OK to reuse. I did my turbo head 20k miles ago and reused the bolts without any problem so far. Be sure to get the head resurfaced. 70k miles is awfully low for a gasket failure.

I was told to always replace headbolts with new ones whenever the old ones were loosend because the threads "stretch" when torqued down. I don't know if anyone else has heard this but if I'm going to the trouble to replace the headgasket to get hopefully another 2ooK miles I would replace the bolts to ensure proper instalation.