Well everyone, I tried several of your suggestions for popping off the head
and had no luck. In the end I've decided to chicken out - tomorrow morning
the car is being towed to my mechanic's shop. If anyone is interested I'll
let you know the outcome.
Thanks again to everyone for your help.
John
On 5/6/02 9:56 AM, "Robert M. Lang" <lang@isis.mit.edu> wrote:
>
> There are a bunch of "tricks" to pop the head off.
>
> One is to bump the motor with the starter... install the spark plus and
> tun the motor over on the key. The resulting pressure in the cylinders
> should be enough to crack the head loose. The pressures created should be
> in the 150 pound range if the rings are healthy.
>
> If the motor is out of the car or you want to try another method, you can
> install an air line to a cylinder and try pressurizing that way - samea s
> above, but if you have access to higher line pressures - the head will
> crack.
>
> Then there's the "rope trick" install some rope into the spark plug holes
> on two cylinders on the same stroke. That means 1/6, 2/5 and 3/4. I like
> to use 1/4 or maybe 3/8 inch nylon line stuff about 6 feet of the rope
> into the spark plug holes with the motor rotated to BDC. Once the rope is
> in place, rotate the motor by the crank nut 'till you get tension and then
> apply some pressure. The head should pop off.
>
> Note: the rope trick is fairly extreme. If there is a head bolt still in
> place or other "issue", you can damage the rods of the crank.
>
> Another tip is to apply liberal amounts of you favorite penetrant onto the
> cylinder head studs prior to any of the above.
>
> The reason the head usually gets stuck is due to the studs on the
> passenger side of the engine being exposed to elements and the
> heating/cooling of the engine.
>
> Also note that a couple of the manifold bolts' holes are in alignment with
> a few of the studs - make sure that the manifold bolts are not interfering
> with your activity by removing all the external studs!
>
> regards,
> rml
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