How to remove head studs

[Carsten]

I am looking for good advise on how to loosen the hread studs without breaking them off.

[48fordnut]

stud remover and hard work.

[GOSFAST]

Originally Posted by Carsten

I am looking for good advise on how to loosen the hread studs without breaking them off.

This is tough issue for almost every build that has them installed from the factory, there's always a few "stubborn" ones that simply won't come out!!

One specific one we always find is directly over the heat-crossover passage in the center of the blocks?

I would first try to "double-nut" them one at a time after soaking them with some type penetrant for a while.

If you can work around them this is the best method if the equipment needed is limited?

Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. From a fresh build standpoint we don't worry all that much about getting them all out, we get the ones we can without too much of a battle and do the rest in the Bridgeport after we break them on purpose!

[papanomad]

heat and wax works great.

[Brendan]

be patient and take your time, i took them out of my model a with some heat, the double nut and penetrating oil. also a good pair of vice grips

[Tim Ayers]

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All the advise so far is right on. I’ve also learned that turning them to the right (tightening them) helps to break them free as well. Go slow and only need to move it the slightest bit for this trick to work.

[redmodelt]

Stud puller. They put the pressure around the base of the stud not at the top like a double nut. Tapping on the stubborn ones seems to help too, not a heavy hit but gentle firm hits. Plus wax and heat. Penetrating oil helps, NOT WD-40 unless it is the type made for penetrating. Take your time, strong arming is not the way to take them out unless you want to practice drilling the broken ones out. Some times no matter how careful you are, some break.

[fordv8j]

I had a broke stud on a 8-n, was told to heat stud and melt wax around it, I did this then welded a nut to it and it came out....the wax had penetrated to te bottom of the stud, might try this before they brake

[supereal]

Buy or borrow good quality stud puller. The old knurled wheel type will usually result in broken studs. If the stud tip extends into the water jacket, it may be rusted. Putting a nut on the top end of the stud and gently rapping it with a hammer may also help break the bond. At our shop we always remove all studs so we can surface the face of the block If you don't have to remove them, leave them alone. If you need to clean the boles, use a tap designed for the job, not a common threading tap. Old cast iron is fragile, and easy to damage.

[Newc]

Hi; I've been waiting for this topic. I've got a 59A with nice finned aluminum heads. Half the studs came out and the rest won't budge... Can't move the heads either. Tried welding nuts on the studs and the studs broke right at the heat point below the nuts. So it sits...[IMG]DSCN0544[/IMG]

[Newc]

[img]dscn0544[/img]

[Kube]

Originally Posted by redmodelt

Stud puller. They put the pressure around the base of the stud not at the top like a double nut. Tapping on the stubborn ones seems to help too, not a heavy hit but gentle firm hits. Plus wax and heat. Penetrating oil helps, NOT WD-40 unless it is the type made for penetrating. Take your time, strong arming is not the way to take them out unless you want to practice drilling the broken ones out. Some times no matter how careful you are, some break.

With due respect to the others that have thus far responded, I must agree with "redmodelt". Especially the advice he offered in regard to utilizing a stud remover as it grasps the stud closets to the area it is stuck in.

[flatjack9]

I have found that penetrants rarely work on really stuck studs. Some have been soaked forever and when they finally come out, you can still see dry areas on the stud. Heat is your friend.

[RalphM]

Originally Posted by Newc

[img]dscn0544[/img]

You will have to remove the heads in order to get those studs out. I know it’s a catch 22, but you will find it impossible to do it like that. A hollow drill that will go over the stud, but not cut too much of the head is best. Make sure you don’t go to Deep and cut into the block.

Oh and my favorite for stuck studs is wax as well.

[richard crow]

heat then soak. when ready to remove double nut. line up the nut flats. now get a in pack gun & scoket. set at low in pack work the gun fw & rev back & forth a little at a time while looking for stud movement. the vibe from the in pack gun does wonders. take your time

[Floyd]

Double nutting or a good stud puller will get the easy ones out. Problem is not all of them are easy. You have 48 of these rascals to deal with (or 42). My experience has been that at least 10 to 30+ are stuck and the puller will not work. Before breaking them off at the deck level, I go straight to the method of cutting off the stud about an inch so above the deck. Then I use cheap hardware store 1/2 inch common coarse thread nuts that will slip over the cutoff 7/16 stud. Then I weld the hell out of it to the stud. Now you have made a bolt and the heat into the stud will expand and shrink, thus breaking the bond from rust. Take your trusty impact wrench and just sit on it until something happens. Either the stud comes out or you weld breaks. If so ,reweld it really good and go at it again. This has been my 100% successful method. You don't need to wait for days or weeks on hoping that a chemical approach. With the double nutting/stud puller plus the welding method will get all of them out within a couple of hours or so . Cost is a bag of nuts for a couple of bucks.
My opinion and my experience

[FlatheadTed]

I have used the weld the nut on idea and its the heat that really does the job.

[John Gibson]

In the early 70’s I decided to bring my 1937 Cabriolet back to Henry’s spects. I eventually found a correct engine in a junkyard in Brewer, Me that I bought “as is, where is”. When I got it home and began to dissemble it I broke a number of headbolts off flush to the block. It was one of those “aw sh*t” moments for sure. I took the bare block to my local machine shop and Orville said, “come back tomorrow “! I stopped by the next day and it was ready to go! I noticed that there were a number of short broken headbolts on the floor. Each one had a large nut welded to it it. Of course Orville was not willing to tell me how he had extracted the broken studs but when I saw the studs on the shop floor it became apparent to me what his method was. The heat of the weldind process broke the rust bond that broke the studs in the first place! The ten dollars that he charged me was cheap for the lesson I learned.

John

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by John Gibson

In the early 70’s I decided to bring my 1937 Cabriolet back to Henry’s spects. I eventually found a correct engine in a junkyard in Brewer, Me that I bought “as is, where is”. When I got it home and began to dissemble it I broke a number of headbolts off flush to the block. It was one of those “aw sh*t” moments for sure. I took the bare block to my local machine shop and Orville said, “come back tomorrow “! I stopped by the next day and it was ready to go! I noticed that there were a number of short broken headbolts on the floor. Each one had a large nut welded to it it. Of course Orville was not willing to tell me how he had extracted the broken studs but when I saw the studs on the shop floor it became apparent to me what his method was. The heat of the weldind process broke the rust bond that broke the studs in the first place! The ten dollars that he charged me was cheap for the lesson I learned.

John

Yes, I did two on an 8RT motor this way. I agree with the heat from the MIG was probably the trick version the ability getting a wrench to a nut to turn the stud. That stud was still a dull red when I got it out of the block.

[Floyd]

If you break the studs off (they always break right at the deck level), then your welding skills need to be pretty good to weld the nut onto the flush stud. That is why I just go ahead and cut the studs off short so I at least have something to weld to. The method works best with electric welding as the idea is to get a lot of heat into the stud quickly so it can expand against the cold block and crush the rust/corrosion. Then when it cools, it shrinks back to size with a slight gap from the crushed rust. So you have three things going for you with this method. First you get the thermal shock to loosen the corrosion, then you get a bolt made to work with and third you can use the old impact theory of mechanical shock until it finally gives up.
I have even skipped the doubling nutting try and have gone straight to the cut off the studs and weld on the cheap nuts (the kind you buy by the pound). I think this saves time.
My opinion

[Talkwrench]

Take your time.
soak the studs for some time leading up to the job.
heat the stud , then let it cool for a minute or so, keep squirting stuff on like Inox through the process. get the stud remover on BUT think about the angles your working on as they are offset as you can see, so THINK about where the force is working as you can bust them easy.. what I did was load up the breaker bar and hold it, don't just keep going, back it off after 15 seconds , do it again load it up, use a lot of 'feel" you'll feel them just start to turn , then steady , steady, still think about angle of the breaker bar if they're tight. I only broke one when I did mine and it surprised me, just went..
If your engine is in bad condition and not touched for many years then good luck .

[Bubsyouruncle]

Back in 1956 I managed to break off three or four studs right at deck level. Then, like an idiot, though the studs broke off, I figured easy-outs would do the job.

Live and learn.

Now I had broken studs and one with a broken easy-out in it.

I carefully drilled out the ones that I could still drill. I don't remember the size but it was just to the root diameter of the stud threads, leaving the threads behind in the block. I was then able to pick out the remaining metal of the stud. Took a long time.

The one with the easy-out . . . The place I was working at had an old-time welding expert. I explained my problem. He had me bring in the block. He then washed out the stud and easy-out using his oxy-acetylene torch. Said he could have also done the ones that I had drilled out. Something about the steel being easier to burn away than cast iron. The threads in the block were un-harmed by this process!

[ABento]

I also had studs break at the top of the head, I managed to center punch the stud and started drilling, finally drilled it out to the head hole and got the head off then chipped the rest out of the block.

[Carsten]

Thank you so much for the good advose, what kind of wax to use ? thx

[RalphM]

I just use a stick of Gulf wax. Comes in a box of four I think. Any craft store where they have supplies for candles. It’s used for canning as well.

I just checked, Wal Mart has it also.

[Ronnie]

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Originally Posted by Carsten

Thank you so much for the good advose, what kind of wax to use ? thx

A candle is all you need,works every time. Don't try to remove until it is cool to the touch. A tig is the easiest way to weld.

R

[corvette8n]

Anyone have a recommendation on the brand of a good stud remover?

[JSeery]

I've used several and there is a big difference in how well they work. However I can't remember which was the better one, a mechine shop loaned it to me!

[Shu47]

Like many other's had stated. Heat is the real trick to breaking up the rusty bond between the stud and the block. No matter what you use to turn the stud make sure heat was involved first.

[RalphM]

These are great, but only go up to 3/8” in the set I have.

[russcc]

My 2 cents worth among all the million dollar ideas; patience, stud puller, heat. Heat, cool, try tightening 1st, then try to loosen, more heat, more cool, more patience. Got all 24 out intact from a very rusty 59T motor. Saved having to drill some out and loose some thread in the process.

[cas3]

ralphm, those just look like a deep socket, whats inside that does the grabbin? the ones that have three fingers like a drill chuck are the best i believe because you can go both directions

[RalphM]

These have four sets of teeth, and yes go either direction. I have used them at work on many a stubborn turbocharger stud and they work very well. Of course when one breaks off near flush, or flush then it is drilling, or welding on a nut!

I did a turbo on an old L-10 Cummins out in the middle of nowhere recently. These took out three of the studs. Fourth snapped off with about 1/4” above flange. No welders in sight, onlyan OxyAcetelene torch with cutting tip. I welded on a nut with the torch, and Viola! It came out.

Heat is good!

[Floyd]

This is for story purposes only. I have heard from some ole timers that they have seen guys blow out broken head studs with a cutting torch, leaving the block and threads intact. This takes skill that few of us will ever have. Please don't try this at home.

[Fordestes]

I use the same method Floyd does, I have used especially on garbage trucks where there is a ton of rusty corroded bolts into steel and cast iron. Until you get the hang of this method , just a friendly what happened to me thing, I was doing the heat and impact but I thought I was smart and got a wet towel when the welding was done I quenched the bolt , that worked ok till I accidentally dropped some of the cold water onto the casting, from there on it was crack city, Kinda hard to explain to the Boss how it happened.

[Mike51Merc]

1. Heat with propane torch (not too hot), spray with penetrant.
2. Try to move either/both directions with breaker bar, but not too hard or too much distance.
3. repeat #1
4. repeat #2

Some of these studs enter the water jacket and the threads down there are probably crusted with rust even worse than the threads in the deck. A good penetrant (like PB Blaster) will actually dissolve the rust if you can get it in there and let it sit for a while.

Sometimes you'll get a stud/bolt to initially break free and then it will bind the more you try to move it. In this case it is especially important to spray it and send it back in and back out again repeatedly. You gotta dissolve the rust with the penetrant.

[Jason M.]

I used a Snap On Tools 1/2" drive collet style stud removal socket, a gentle heating with a propane torch and a couple shots of PB Blasters with lots of patience and had no problems with my studs. I purchased replacement studs and nuts from Roy Nacewicz which I'm very happy with.

[cmbrucew]

Originally Posted by corvette8n

Anyone have a recommendation on the brand of a good stud remover?

Bridgeport mill and a good eye. Not a joke.
Bruce

[Yoyodyne]

Originally Posted by Jason M.

I used a Snap On Tools 1/2" drive collet style stud removal socket,

Very nice tool if you want to recover the stud or are only removing a few.
When I'm removing all the studs, I take the shortcut and just go ahead and unscrew or break them with a small pipe wrench then weld a nut on the broken stud.

[apba12m]

if the stud or bolt breaks off at the surface I tig weld a washer to the bolt/stud then weld a nut to the washer and they come out all the time.