TR6 Stuck head bolts!

Hi, dne’ back with another exciting blog! Today’s blog is dealing with stuck head bolts on the stock 6cyl engine. Actually, they’re not head bolts, they’re studs with nuts to cinch them down.

In my case, I thought sure I wouldn’t have a problem, but was I wrong! Here the little engine that could or would is supported by my awesome Gantry crane that I made a few weeks ago!

I was making such good progress getting the engine torn down~ 🙁 In this picture all the head nuts are off. I believe this engine could have run just fine without the head nuts! oh, I know, you’re thinking I was going to put the engine in the wheel barrow and dump it behind my home! lol

After trying the usual; channel locks, vise grips, PB blaster, etc, I resorted to welding the nuts on the 5 studs that wouldn’t budge. 4 came out with little hassle, whereas the right front was stuck big time x 10! I had welded the first nut on, the weld broke, then a 2nd nut,  followed by a 3rd! So I wiggled and pried and was able to get about a 3/8″ gap between the head and block, just enough to get a sawzall blade in. The blade cut about halfway, then quick cutting, from there, I used a pry bar in one of the cylinder head holes, and the head stud broke easily. 😉

Notice my ground lead is directly on the nut. I didn’t want to ground my welder to the block in fear of inadvertently welding the stud to its bore in the head. Probably wouldn’t have happened, but I didn’t want to take any chances!

It was such a relief lifting the head off and lowering it to the ground where I could attack the stuck stud which was remained lodged/seized inside the head!

With a 5 lb. hammer and heavy drift, I pounded on the stud until it finally exited the head! I’m sighing here~ I was really worried that I’d have to start looking for another engine!:( but 😉 instead!

Now, take the engine down the rest of the way, then take the parts which will need machining to a local machine shop known for working on TR engines; then, install the engine into its new home on its chassis/frame! Can’t wait! Just need to get with some of the Guru’s to see what kind of goodies I can put in my engine to give a little more hip hop!!

Hang in there with me OK!! 😉  dne’ ~ Classic Cars and Tools