Getting stuck aluminum flathead heads off???

Chris said:
I thought I could get em, but man they are not budging! I am being very careful however as not to damage the heads. I got this engine a week ago, been squirting penetrating oil on each stud every day since! I have tried cranking it over with the plugs in, made some T handle pullers using spark plugs to thread into the holes, tapped and tapped on em all over...they will just not budge. Anyone else run into some suborn ones? How did you get em off without damaging anything?

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Hey Chris old stock car guy told me once they would drain the coolant and remove the head nuts as you have and just start it up when it quit the heads were loose???
 
tiquer said:
Hey Chris old stock car guy told me once they would drain the coolant and remove the head nuts as you have and just start it up when it quit the heads were loose???
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I watched my dad do this once. The motor had Ford aluminum heads on it. I was amazed how long it ran until the heads actually popped up.
 
The early 33-36 alum heads were made of a poor alloy & it was not unheard of to have to take a sledge hammer to them to break them off because of severe corrosion to the studs.
 
columbiA said:
The early 33-36 alum heads were made of a poor alloy & it was not unheard of to have to take a sledge hammer to them to break them off because of severe corrosion to the studs.
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Been there, done that. Sledge hammer and an axe and a lot of blue language...
 
tiquer said:
Hey Chris old stock car guy told me once they would drain the coolant and remove the head nuts as you have and just start it up when it quit the heads were loose???
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That works if you have compression.

I built the puller to pull the heads because I had no compression for 5 cylinders and wanted to free up the stuck valves.

Tom
 
This engine does not run...yet. I bought it from a guy street rodding the car (41 Ford). He said he tried to get it running but it has 2 stuck valves. I can see he tried getting one head off...the gasket is all mangles in a couple areas. I hope he did not gouge the heads up too bad.

I made this puller tonight. I'm going to give it a whirl. Guys that have made/used them said it pulls the heads off with very little effort. I'm dying to see if this is a 221 or 239...Praying it's a 239 :D I'm gonna put stock heads on it and dump it in my 41 convertible. Engine in it is VERY tired!


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Quickest,cheapest & safeist is the old school way as Bill says the rope trick, for u unenformed guys that's removing the spark plugs & fill the cyl. with a small rope like small eng. starter cord hit the starter & pop off comes the heads
 
Right on IVT1. I use "sash cord" as it can be controlled better and compressed. Don't know if hardware stores still carry sash cord. For those not old enough to remember, sash cord was used in the older windows to attach the counter weights.
 
A spaceing tool or two may help.You find them at a industrial supplier who handles pipe fabrication tools.They are about six inches long and 2 inches wide and made from spring steel .They are used for spaceing/gapping pipe.I have used them several times,at the thickest part of taper they are 1/8 " thick.Use a couple and move around head gently tapping in between surfaces.Also have tapped them in enough to put stess on head,then warm it with a tiger torch.The heat and pressure may break bond on stud.
If you try to find some look for thinner make,are better steel and last longer.These also work on anything...misc covers,gaskets,cutting(with hammer)cutting wood,best scraper you'll ever use.
 
Got my puller made. It worked OK, got one side loose enough for me to wiggle/wrestle with it for another hour to get it off. I need to beef it up, add a couple more studs and use all 4 spark plug holes for the other side. It is STUCK. Good news is on the side that came off, the heads look really nice (not all eaten up) and with the center water passages in the block I think it's a 239!!! EDIT: never mind, I got it backwards I think it's a 221 :(

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I measured the bore this morning with a caliper and it's right at 3 3/16, so maybe someone bored it to 239? I'll get an inside micrometer and find out exactly what it is!
 
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