Just a rant.. but if you have any ideas, I'm all ears. OLD, rusty, crappy looking flathead.. clean bores, not cracked in the oil pan or mains area, no visible cracks in the deck.. so I want to clean it up and run it. The head studs are in bad shape, looks like someone hammered on them quite a bit some years ago. So I want to replace them. First blasted them with pb blaster several times a day for about a week, hit them softly with a light hammer every time I did it, too shake them loose. Most of the times this does it for me. First stud: breaks off right at the deck. Heat stud and apply candle wax. Second stud: breaks of 3/4 inch from deck Heat and then cool stud. Third stud: breaks off about 1" from deck. I was using the same stud puller on them all, changed over to the double nut method. Fourth stud: strip threads Looks like the studs are pretty weak.. but I'm out of ideas. They are coming out no matter what. But I really do not look forward to drilling out 48 studs!! I STRONGLY DISKLIKE studs (hate is such a nasty word)
Just posted a reply to the same subject on another forum; here's a link: http://flatheadv8.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1482
I don't do Fords, but removing studs from Plymouth and Dodge 4 bangers I just heat them to red hot close to the deck as I can (1/2 -1/4 inch) let it cool and use a puller from Craftsman to turn them out. Always works on MoPars. By the way, by actual scientific test a 50-50 mixture of ATF and acetone was far and away the best thing for loosing rusted bolts.
I, being of sound mind,(debateable),would gather up all your flat head stuff,sell it for scrap and use that as gas money to go find a good ohv v6/v8 of your choice and turn that one problem into another.
What the hell are you talking about? V6? Put a LOT of heat into them, like dull red...cool them fast with penetrating oil or ATF, remove with the stud puller. Other than that, I hope you're good with a drill and easy out! You're at the mercy of the gods!
When you say they brake off 3/4 or 1 inch from the deck. You are using a puller that sits right on the deck I hope. You only want to twist the threaded part of the stud
I doesn't sound like mine were as in bad of condition as yours, but I had lots of luck recently using a small pipe wrench with a piece of pipe over the handle for extra leverage. You're not going to be able to re-use the studs after, but it sounds like yours are trashed anyway. May be worth a shot.....
Spin the nut down even with the top of the stud, then put a lot of heat into the stud while you weld the nut to the stud. Let it cool thoroughly. Usually comes out. I suppose you could try the wax on the threads as it's cooling as well. I don't seem to have good luck with stud pullers.
Maybe put the long thin red tube on the PBlaster can and spray the bottom of the stud threads inside the water jacket? I usually just use heat and a good Craftsman stud puller- not the Speedway crap one.
There are roller-type and collet type pullers that work concentric with the stud. This is a huge advantage over the types that put your wrench handle over to the side in terms of not breaking the things.
Heat-cool-heat-cool-heat-cool. Over and and over. I do not understand why people think once is enough! Heat and cool it a few times, if thats not enough do it 5 more. They spun in easy, they will spin out easy. Just have to get the to swell and contract enough times to break the bond.
There are MANY ways of getting studs out but no matter what, some are going to break anyway. You are going to get good at digging them out and saving the threads or spend some money having a shop do it. I used to give seminars on doing this on heavy equipment and no one method works on every problem. Bad threads can be fixed with a helicioil or Threadsert for a stock or mild hop up but on a high performance engine it is stronger to put a steel plug in and redrill. In any case proper steps need to be taken to assure the thread repair is vertical.
Also, get it hot as possible. Almost molten is perfect. If your worried about damaging the block, let it cool naturally. Heat them all every night after work for a week, and I bet they will come out easy. Although I have been accused of going overboard with the flame wrench...
How about having the block cleaned or tanked prior to removing the studs? break up all the crap down in the jackets and it may go easier.
That might help but DO NOT have it bake cleaned..That tends to set threaded or pressed fasteners (Chev V8 rocker studs) in harder.
I've pretty much got all the choices around here. Working on overhead valve I6 I8 and V8 as well as flathead V8 and V12.. all have their place in current or future projects.. But I see no reason to replace any of them with anything cooler. I am however selling most of my flathead collection. I'm using the roller-type/collet type (collet with rollers) to try and pull the studs, power is straight down. I'm afraid to damage the block doing that.. it's not like uncracked blocks are easy to find, so until proven otherwise I threat every block as if it's made of gold. Putting that much heat into it can't be good for the longevity of the block.
Done the same plenty of times. Never hurt a block. heat the stud red hot to within 1/4-1/2 inch of the deck let cool. Do not heat the block directly. At least I don't. All the guys telling you it works can't be wrong at the same time.
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