Other: Removing Bolts!

[greatbarnfind]

I am going to start on my 48 m5 pickup soon and do not knkw exactly how to remove the engine head bolts without breaking them. They are frozen to the engine after being on their for 20+ years in the woods. THANKS.

[rkapteyn]

Soak, soak and again soak them with PB blaster or Kroil for awhile (days).

[52 Ragtop]

Or a 50/50 mix of acetone and trans fluid.

Jim

[Studebaker1962]

Yes, as above but then use the heat wrench. Use a torch to heat the block.

Use can also try to peen the bolt a few times with a hand sledge and a good sized punch.

[pinehurstbob]

I have had great luck with diesel fuel, heated if you can, and let it sit for days.

Bob
64 Daytona & 60 Lark Convert

[PackardV8]

I've found an impact gun to be less likely to twist off bolts than a manual breaker bar. The hammer/rattler action seems to loosen them.

While it's counter-intuitive, set the impact to "ON", let it hammer the head bolt lightly for a second, then switch to "OFF" and remove.

jack vines

[Deaf Mute]

I rock my impact back & forth several times with really short bursts... soaking and heat help also, but not as much on head bolts. The ideal use for heat is on the nuts (no comments, Bob).

[jclary]

(Note: I composed the following post early this morning. Then, I got sidetracked ...forgot to hit the "submit" button, and left home for an appointment. Therefore, posts #6 and #7 cover a lot of what I had intended to say. I thought I'd go ahead and post anyway. Some things are worth repeating)

Well...we all have different approaches to a task. My suggestion, while you are soaking those bolts, is to remove the engine from the truck. Or, if you don't have a good work stand, remove the front clip of the truck so that you have good access to the engine without back breaking contortions. That way, the chassis can become your work stand.

One method I have used, with great success, is to use a half-inch drive impact wrench with the power dialed way down to loosen those bolts. High quality impact wrenches have a valve adjustment limiting the air flow to the air motor and enables you to control the power. The rapid intermediate blows of the impact wrench should allow you to reach the "cracking" pressure to loosen the bolts without reaching the breaking point if you take your time and apply only minimum power required to break the rust bond.

Of course, my suggestion only works if you have a sufficient air compressor and the tools. You can pretty much accomplish the same thing with a wrench and a hammer as long as you have a good "feel" and ability to finesse the process. Since I spent years selling the tools, I managed to acquire a pretty good collection of the equipment. I know everybody don't have all the play toys to do these tasks, but with a little improvising, the jobs can be improvised with simple tools.

The worst that could happen is if some of the bolts that pass through water jackets have eroded and rusted to the point that the breaking point takes less force than the twisting force required for them to come out... If this happens, fortunately, there are enough of these engines around where "replacing" one is sometimes less costly than "rebuilding" one.

Good luck with the project.

[Flashback]

Heat each bolt and squirt the 50/60 mix around it. Tap , as mentioned on the head of the bolt. Filling the block water jacket with diesel fuel or with the 50/50 mix mentioned, helps, along with soaking around the bolts. No heating, without flushing is allowed after filling block. LOL Soak, Soak, Soak

[Studebaker1962]

Soak and peen the bolt. Heat the block not the bolt.

[jnormanh]

I am going to start on my 48 m5 pickup soon and do not knkw exactly how to remove the engine head bolts without breaking them. They are frozen to the engine after being on their for 20+ years in the woods. THANKS.

Squirt some sort of penetrating oil on them. It doesn't much matter what you use, since it probably won't get past the first thread or two anyway.

Give each one a good hard rap with a hammer. Then put an impact wrench to them. They'll probably back out. If not, then they were never going to come out anyway. It' not that big a deal to extract the broken ones.

[northern]

I recently removed the heads on an early 1950s Mercury flat-head V8; it had lain outside, on the ground in the weather, for more than three decades. It seems unlikely that this engine in worth rebuilding, but just taking it apart was an entertaining project. Ants and time had filled every nook and cranny of the engine with organic material and dirt.

The head bolts were well rusted to the block, to say the least. An Ingersoll-Rand 1/2" impact worked to break loose all but two of the head bolts. Those two did snap off. I doubt that it would have gone as well without the impact.