Has anyone seen water leak around the head studs before? I just got my motor running after a fresh build and after breaking the motor in thru several heat cycles I have water leaking out around 3 head studs on the passenger side. Its a 400 sbc BTW. Best I can tell its only the ones on the outside of the valve cover because there is no evidence of water in the oil.  

Studs are very prone to leaking...

Three big block Chevys have recently been in our "shop" with this issue. We have used permatex high-temp silicone so far but either we aren't using enough or we need to figure out some other kind of sealant to use.  

Head bolts or studs, the threads have to have sealer on them since several of the bolts/studs are "wet" meaning they go into the water jackets.

Silicone isn't what you want to use. Go to the ARP website, they have specific sealer for head bolts and studs to prevent leakage.  

I talked to my machine shop who assembled the engine and they said they used sealer. I guess just not enough. And yes they are head studs. I have some Loctite 527 soft thread sealer. We use it at the plant were i work to seal threads on pipe. Will this work? Second thought maybe I should do as you suggest and get the sealer from ARP. Thanks