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Trying to figure out when to fix cylinder threads (for the head bolts) on my '52 Chief and when to leave them alone. Had one where the threads were nearly gone--fixed that one. Fixed a second one where a previous owner had re-tapped it to 1/2-20. Many of the holes have some portions of partial thread breakage, but when I screw a new head bolt in, they don't seem that bad. A little loosey-goosey, but nothing that a longer head bolt and/or some blue loctite wouldn't remedy.
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If you can get more thread engagement with clean, solid threads by using a longer bolt, then I think that's what I'd do. If you can't, I would not rely on Loctite to provide a good joint. Loctite is primarily to keep bolts from backing out, not to maintain a joint, and a cylinder head is going to see a lot of force on it. In that case, I would start learning about heli-coils. I've never used them myself, but they can't be that hard.
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