Head Removal

[Alan Chatterton]

Ah, okay, got it now!
Now, if I had mentioned chrome plating my head bolts I could understand it!
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[Clifford Pope]

Put the plugs back in and start it momentarily.

[Mike Stevens]

I agree with Clifford.&nbsp; The head will be stuck on the gasket as well as binding on the studs.&nbsp; Cranking it over with the plugs in will often help to break the \'sticktion\' to the gasket, then it\'s a matter of working it up the 14 head studs!
The worst one I ever did had one stud stuck almost solidly.&nbsp; I removed all the other studs and managed to lift the head enough to hacksaw through the last stud.&nbsp; The remains then unscrewed from the block easily, and the bit in the head drifted out with a big hammer.&nbsp; The engine was full of black gritty gunge which has stuck this stud, filled up the cam followers and was just about everywhere else.&nbsp;&nbsp;I think it had been given high quality oil after a lifetime of poor oil, the good oil cleaning off all the deposited gunge.
Like Alec, I usually end up using cold chisels as wedges a bit at a time each side.&nbsp; If you try to drive the wedge into the gasket and don\'t go too far, you\'re unlikely to cause any serious damage to where the gasket has to seal around the bores.
Also there are some (one?) lips on the head on the LHS which can be used for levering - but don\'t break them off!
Good luck,
Cheers,
Mike
<edited><editID>Mike Stevens</editID><editDate>39456.5441087963</editDate></edited>

[johnconradlee]

Finally got the head off a few weeks ago. Tried hitting it with a bigger hammer...nothing....tried cranking it over....nothing. Managed to remove 10 studs so concluded that the remaining little blighters must be what was stopping it from moving. Having tried the two nuts technique and thoroughly knackered the threads with mole grips decided to go for broke and dug out the arc set and welded the nuts to the studs. Three came out quite easily one was really quite stiff but came out with some light persuasion and with one light bosh with a mallet the head was free. I\'ve now got what seems like half Chris Witor\'s stock of engine bits sat on my desk and the head is off at the engine reconditioners being skimmed and having it\'s issues dealt with.<br>Anyway this brings me to my new question. In the Autobooks manual (but interestingly not in Haynes) it says \"When refitting the head clean the faces of the head and block and use a new gasket. Use grease or a jointing compound on both faces of the gasket, this also applies to the water pump gasket and the upper faces of the rocker cover joint.\" My question therefore is; What grease or jointing compound should I use if any?<br>

[Alec]

Hello John, <br><br>grease has long been advocated to help the gasket settle. Any old grease wil serve, or even oil. I understand that on no account should gasket cement, sealer etc be used. It\'s use is normally confined to paper or cork gaskets only.<br><br>Alec<br>

[David Withers]

The official T2000/2500 workshop manual says to grease the cylinder head gasket, so I cannot argue with Alec on this.
I don\'t&nbsp;suppose a very thin&nbsp;smear of grease does any harm with most copper-faced head gaskets, though I cannot see much benefit either so long as the gasket is a good fit to start with, i.e. flat, not rippled.
My preference is to fit&nbsp;all head gaskets&nbsp;dry as this helps prevent any slippage of thin lands between openings.&nbsp; No doubt this is not a problem with our Triumph engines though.
Any head gaskets other than copper-faced, e.g. Klingerite or the more recent MLS (multi layer steel)&nbsp;<U>must</U> be fitted dry.&nbsp; Also, as Alec says, never use sealing compound on any head gasket - except in the most unlikely event that&nbsp;the manufacturer states otherwise.&nbsp;
A&nbsp;smear of copper grease on the shanks of the studs&nbsp;will assist head removal next time.&nbsp; The threads should normally be left dry as the studs are phosphated, though&nbsp;just a very light oiling shouldn\'t hurt.
Incidentally, a contributor to&nbsp;another Triumph forum suggests replacing the head studs with Allen screws (hex-socket capscrews).&nbsp; This could be a bad move for several&nbsp;reasons:
Firstly,&nbsp;the high tightening&nbsp;load can wear the thread in the block, whereas the load with studs is a straight pull (the studs will have been screwed in with very little torque, hence no thread wear).
Secondly, it is obviously important to get sufficient&nbsp;thread engagement but if the end of the screw&nbsp;bottoms in the hole, or&nbsp;hits the thread \'runout\' in the block,&nbsp;the&nbsp;head won\'t be fully clamped.
Thirdly,&nbsp;and I think most importantly, Allen screws&nbsp;are made from a different steel to the studs and won\'t have the same stretch when they are tightened; controlled stretch&nbsp;gives the studs a defined elasticity so that they continue to clamp as the engine gets hot and cold.&nbsp; I&nbsp;seem to recall that&nbsp;our studs are \'W\' range whereas Allen screws are normally 10,9 which is&nbsp;somewhere&nbsp;around&nbsp;the old \'T\' and \'V\'&nbsp;ranges.&nbsp;
Many modern engines use Allen screws or Torx screws of course, but they are designed for it.&nbsp;&nbsp; They normally use the&nbsp;modern \'angle-tightening\' method as this takes the fasteners further into their \'elastic\' region, in fact only just short of the \'plastic\' region where they start to lose elasticity (and will no longer return to their original length when undone).
When we introduced angle-tightening on our diesel engines we changed the material spec of the studs, mainly&nbsp;by adding a little boron so as to extend the&nbsp;elastic region and make it more dependable.&nbsp; Angle-tightening is a far better system than the old torque-tightening system as it eliminates any variation due to thread and under-head friction.

[CAR]

In more recent years I have removed heads on a BMW and&nbsp;a turbocharged Lancia. Both these cars had Torx headbolts, along with the recommendation&nbsp;not to reuse them. So I changed them.
Thanks&nbsp;for the explaination Dizzy, now I know why.&nbsp;

[David Withers]

Craj, I\'m pleased my&nbsp;waffle was of some help.
I have never worked on a Lancia but have worked on a BMW head held with Torx bolts.&nbsp; Don\'t they take a lot of effort to turn?&nbsp; I\'m&nbsp;quite strong in the arm for a wrinkly and&nbsp;was using an 18\"&nbsp;bar&nbsp;but I had to get my son to do the last 1/4 turn!&nbsp; It felt as so either the tool or the bolt was about to break on that last bit!
Here\'s a related story from my work two or three decades ago&nbsp;(look away if you\'ve heard enough from me already!)...
When we introduced angle-tightening, the equipment would tighten all the head bolts simultaneously (something like 32 of them?).&nbsp; It was very sophisticated equipment&nbsp;with a sensor for each bolt driver that&nbsp;could detect if there was anything wrong as the bolts&nbsp;were run down.
I was called to the production line to look for the cause of a fault where, every so often, a red light came on against number 15 bolt and the \'fault read-out\' said that the required driving force&nbsp;at one&nbsp;stage of the tightening process had been&nbsp;too low.&nbsp; I checked that the threads were clean and dry, e.g. no oil contamination from any previous assembly operation, etc, etc.&nbsp; The Production engineers had been unable to find anything wrong, and neither could I as a Drawing Office wallah.
Then checking the&nbsp;cylinder block drawing,&nbsp;I noticed that there was a small side drilling which almost penetrated the No.15 tapping, and the&nbsp;item that went into this side drilling was retained with Loctite.
It turned out that the side drilling sometimes just penetrated the No.15 tapping partway down.&nbsp; Only the very&nbsp;tip of the&nbsp;drill point broke&nbsp;through but that&nbsp;was enough to let the tiniest spot of Loctite squeeze by.&nbsp; The&nbsp;Loctite had acted as a thread lubricant and caused the head bolt to momentarily slip as it was tightened, which the sensor had&nbsp;flagged up.