Do you need to retorque head studs on high performance motors?

Hi all, I am seeking to get some advice and opinions on an age old debate. Should you retorque a head studs for a high performance motor at a specific interval during of its life to ensure good headgasket seeling? Some have advised that this is part of regular maintenance.

As an example a 500whp 4g63 motor on pump gas, with a 1.5mm metal head gasket with ARP head studs. Do you retorque the heads to check them after the motor is tuned and runned? Do you consider retorquing as a maintenance? What is the common practise?

Some engine builders and tuners I have spoken to advice to recheck the torque of the headgasket at intervals, before races etc. Some have said compeltely the opposite and to NEVER to reqtorque your head studs after the initial build as it may warp the headgasket and be prone to leaks.

I understnad that there are many varialbes to consider as each motor is different, turbo charged vs na, power levels are different, composite meterails for head gaskets ,etc.

what say you?

Thanks in advance.

In the case of your specific example there's no need to retorque the cylinder head fasteners.

Some motorsport specific head sealing solutions such as copper gaskets require the fasteners be backed off then retorqued one by one after the first heat cycle.

The old saw of having to retorque head studs is coming from usage of composite head gaskets that were getting crushed over time. With MLS type of head gaskets there is no need to do it as they are very stable in terms of keeping thickness under pressure...

thanks for the input guys