Technical Broken ,rusted spark plug, SBC

Got a 66 Chevy C10 with a later 350....Last time it ran was last year....So I just started it, had a misfire on number 6.....Time for new plugs, get to number 6 to find the plug is badly rusted....This engine was from a plow truck so it looks crusty but runs excellent, smooth with good power..
After some time scrapping the area around the spark plug I get a socket on the plug..nothing wants to loosen except the whole center ceramic piece comes loose and pulls out....Fucky fuck...
So now the rusted shell remains, the hex mostly gone but the threaded part screwed into the head is solid....
I removed the header for working room...Hammered in #45 Torx bit and it's a secure tight fit in the plug base hole previously occuppied by the ceramic core....Of course it won't move. Heated the area quite hot several times with an oxy /acet brazing tip and quenched with cold water....nope, still stuck. I'm using a long 1/2 inch rachet with some restraint.....Applied the usual penetrating oils and wait till tomorrow I suppose.
I have a feeling that more drastic measures are needed.As in drilling ,tapping and an insert..Thought about rotating the engine until the intake valve is closed, exhaust open, then using compressed air into the exhaust port to blow the drilling debris out the plug hole....There is room to do the job ..........
Nice truck, fine running rusty engine.....Do not want to pull the head..
Any of you have advice from experience ? Thanks..

 

Well it's times like these you bring out a welder and weld something to it.

 

If you go the drilling it out deal (sounds like that is going to happen) I would do the compressed air deal and smear some wax or heavy grease in the flutes on the drill bit. You may get the whole big enough to get a hack saw blade (or some sort of metal cutting blade) in the hole. Then saw it in a couple of places and knock it in on its self and save the threads well enough to just stick another plug back in.

 

Use a deep and thin socket to be sure you have contact with all the hex. While the "oil soak" is in process, hit it with an impact on a gentle setting. Don't be afraid to crank it clockwise a fraction. That often breaks the 'bond' and it becomes free to back out.
That's all I got.

 

Yeah, I hought about that....The plug shell is gone so nothing sticks out.. I think the cooling weld might shrink the sheel like what you do with blind bearing races.... The #45 Torx bit is a large size and it's got a tight grip on the plug base....And welding will bury the plug center that would be mighty helpful guiding a drill.....if it comes to that..

 

Well, there is no hex left to grip a wrench.....

 

Time to pull the head

 

Drill it then use a EZ OFF !!!

 

Sounds like you heated the area of the head surrounding the plug. Try heating the plug itself, , let it cool down a bit, then hit it with some penetrating oil (if the plug is too hot the oil may flash, but it shouldn't sustain a flame. Make sure there is no gasoline near it, protect the carburetor and fuel lines, which I would think you've already done if you had your torch there). As the oil evaporates due to the heat hit it again, and keep doing that until the plug is cooled enough that the oil doesn't evaporate. Give it a chance to wick down into the threads and try removing it again.

 

I've never had any luck with "easy-outs" or in your case, a "Torx" bit, I'd try a small burr or stone on an air deburr tool, grind the shell thin in a couple of places, then, using a chisel or punch fold the shell in on itself. Remember to let us know how it worked out.

One more thing you could try is to remove the "Torx" bit, then heat up the sparkplug shell with a torch, then using a small chisel on the edge of the shell try to get the shell to turn. In other words, maybe the "torx" is locking the shell in place. (I think this is why I never have any luck with "easy-outs".

 

Theory suggests that if you can get the remains of the plug red hot quickly (without damaging something else) it will go malleable, and as the cold cast iron around it prevents it from increasing in diameter as it normally would when heated it will expand in other directions. After that when you let it cool down it will shrink normally in all directions, causing it to become slightly smaller than the threaded hole in the head, helping it come loose.

Sometimes a great method. Sometimes you BBQ something else that can't handle the torch flame.

 

A small flat chisel and a pair of needle nosed pliers worked on my 88 Chevy plow truck.

I don’t know about the earlier engines but mine were the smaller plugs Bosch), and the shell was quite thin. Really only had to tip up part of the shell enough to grab it with the pliers, then twist so the shell starts to wrap around the plier tip.

It’s easy after that.

Spin the engine with the starter to blow any ceramic pieces or dust out of the cylinder before installing a new plug.

 

I have had pretty good luck using a small oil groove chisel to cut a groove down the inside of the offending object and knock it sideways to collapse it. Then with patience you can work it out with needle nose pliers. Avoiding thread damage is challenging but with care it can be done.

 

Is it rusted or just overly tightened. ? If it is rusty we may be late to the game, but if it is, go down to the local health food store and buy a little brown bottle of Oil of wintergreen. Take a small syringe and squirt some around the plug piece. Come back in 30 minutes and try to remove it. Lippy

 

Pop the head off and put a new one on. SBC head can't be more than 50 bucks. Shit, I see them laying around everywhere, probably get one for free!!

 

And most of them are cracked !

 

Heat and candle wax. 50/50 mix of acetone and straight ATF is awesome but slow. I just had a fight with D'max head gaskets a year n a ½ ago, bought a cute little gig for an air hammer that has a ⅜ drive on it. You hammer gently and turn it with a wrench. On some stuff it worked slicker than owl shit. Got mine here;

https://www.merchant-automotive.com/Glow-Plug-Removal-Tool-Adapter-and-Socket-Duramax

A similar tool may be available elsewhere?

 

Take that damned Torx bit out and start over! All you do by pounding that bit, or an "EZ out" into a hole is expand the piece that you are forcing it into, thereby making the thread fit tighter! Heat the core with a small oxy torch and flow some candle wax into the thread joint. Give this a couple of applications before you try to twist it out. If you need to go further into the bag of tricks, try hitting with a welder to REALLY heat it up.
You might also try a left-hand drill bit to drill it out (often, as the wall gets thinner, the bit will grab the offending part well enough to cause it to unscrew).
Good luck!

 

Just read through the thread, I agree with the above on knocking the torx bit it.
If you have a wire welder, find a nut that fits over the metal. Concentrate the weld on the nut so as not to blow the wall of the plug away.
Let it cool, then try to remove it.
If it still doesn’t budge, assuming it’s rusted in and not cross threaded, then heat the nut up cherry red, let it cool (don’t quench) to the touch and try again.
Personally I don’t like welding and using a torch in the engine bay, I’d pull the head. But if you feel confident it’ll be okay, give it hell.

also, I wouldn’t drill all the way through the plug, maybe just enough to displace the porcelain so the weld isn’t on it. I’d be concerned with hoping that compressed air would pass all the bits and pieces through an open valve, or back out t he hole. But I just worry about stuff like that.
Good luck.

 

Rusted to a nub....The truck the engine was pulled from a few years was a 1995 plow truck. The salt and deicing chemicals destroy not only the sheetmetal but also corrode engine parts...The engine was rebuilt, but the truck got little use after that....rust never sleeps...
Pulling the head will be a struggle because of the rusted fasteners.
This engine is very ugly...I needed running engine for an ugly old truck.....A bore scope revealed perfect bores, it has good oil pressue and equal compression on all cylinders, no mechanical noises, It doesn't leak oil,......The rusty truck and engine were free.....I look at it like a sore dick, don't fuck with it...
I hear you all on easy outs but in the past the Torx have worked....But.... I just bought several small high quality carbide burrs And will carefully grind out the spark plug stub as mentioned above... Will take some photos.....Thanks again for replies !

 

If there is enough there to get a socket on or vice grips heat the plug red hot and turn it out while it is still red hot.

 

Reading thru the suggestions, some of you need to remember this is an engine, and below that hole is a cylinder with a piston. Debris from what you do to the frozen plug will end up down in the hole, and will be difficult to remove. Whatever you can do to remove it that doesn't generate debris is the way to go.

 

Hi, I have removed a lot of those plugs like that, usually broke below the hex,Ive always heated the plug and got them out ,drilling would be a last resort.

 

This is the situation, the broken plug is under the left hand exhaust port bolt hole....It is a mess..Plan is to plug the plug shell hole with wax,then grind the shell remains back as far as possible....Then have a look to see the best next step...
This will come out.....I have fixed worse shit.....

 

Holy carp!! I've never seen one that rusty! Good luck!!

 

I just puked in my mouth, a little... I'm all for trying to save good parts, but that might be just a little too far gone. Were it me, I'd burn or grind the bottom row of bolt head's off and replace the head.

 

How long was that submerged ?

 

Well you have a lot of things to try. If you do, it should take you 3 or 4 days. At the end, you will probably end up pulling the head; or you could do it now and save the time and trouble. However, from the looks of the lower head bolts, you might just be opening another can of worms. Rock and a hard place.

 

That is epic! That whole engine looks like it sat in the ocean for a few years.

 

That is U G L Y!

I'd grind the rust away with a die grinder and an acorn bit so I have bare metal to weld to, stick a big bolt in the hole, use my MIG to weld it to what's left of that plug and use my impact wrench to blast it out of there why it is hot.