How to remove head studs

Carsten said:
I am looking for good advise on how to loosen the hread studs without breaking them off.
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This is tough issue for almost every build that has them installed from the factory, there's always a few "stubborn" ones that simply won't come out!!

One specific one we always find is directly over the heat-crossover passage in the center of the blocks?

I would first try to "double-nut" them one at a time after soaking them with some type penetrant for a while.

If you can work around them this is the best method if the equipment needed is limited?

Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. From a fresh build standpoint we don't worry all that much about getting them all out, we get the ones we can without too much of a battle and do the rest in the Bridgeport after we break them on purpose!
 
be patient and take your time, i took them out of my model a with some heat, the double nut and penetrating oil. also a good pair of vice grips
 
All the advise so far is right on. I’ve also learned that turning them to the right (tightening them) helps to break them free as well. Go slow and only need to move it the slightest bit for this trick to work.
 
Stud puller. They put the pressure around the base of the stud not at the top like a double nut. Tapping on the stubborn ones seems to help too, not a heavy hit but gentle firm hits. Plus wax and heat. Penetrating oil helps, NOT WD-40 unless it is the type made for penetrating. Take your time, strong arming is not the way to take them out unless you want to practice drilling the broken ones out. Some times no matter how careful you are, some break.
 
I had a broke stud on a 8-n, was told to heat stud and melt wax around it, I did this then welded a nut to it and it came out....the wax had penetrated to te bottom of the stud, might try this before they brake
 
Buy or borrow good quality stud puller. The old knurled wheel type will usually result in broken studs. If the stud tip extends into the water jacket, it may be rusted. Putting a nut on the top end of the stud and gently rapping it with a hammer may also help break the bond. At our shop we always remove all studs so we can surface the face of the block If you don't have to remove them, leave them alone. If you need to clean the boles, use a tap designed for the job, not a common threading tap. Old cast iron is fragile, and easy to damage.
 
Hi; I've been waiting for this topic. I've got a 59A with nice finned aluminum heads. Half the studs came out and the rest won't budge... Can't move the heads either. Tried welding nuts on the studs and the studs broke right at the heat point below the nuts. So it sits...
 
redmodelt said:
Stud puller. They put the pressure around the base of the stud not at the top like a double nut. Tapping on the stubborn ones seems to help too, not a heavy hit but gentle firm hits. Plus wax and heat. Penetrating oil helps, NOT WD-40 unless it is the type made for penetrating. Take your time, strong arming is not the way to take them out unless you want to practice drilling the broken ones out. Some times no matter how careful you are, some break.
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With due respect to the others that have thus far responded, I must agree with "redmodelt". Especially the advice he offered in regard to utilizing a stud remover as it grasps the stud closets to the area it is stuck in.
 
I have found that penetrants rarely work on really stuck studs. Some have been soaked forever and when they finally come out, you can still see dry areas on the stud. Heat is your friend.
 
Newc said:
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You will have to remove the heads in order to get those studs out. I know it’s a catch 22, but you will find it impossible to do it like that. A hollow drill that will go over the stud, but not cut too much of the head is best. Make sure you don’t go to Deep and cut into the block.

Oh and my favorite for stuck studs is wax as well.
 
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heat then soak. when ready to remove double nut. line up the nut flats. now get a in pack gun & scoket. set at low in pack work the gun fw & rev back & forth a little at a time while looking for stud movement. the vibe from the in pack gun does wonders. take your time
 
Double nutting or a good stud puller will get the easy ones out. Problem is not all of them are easy. You have 48 of these rascals to deal with (or 42). My experience has been that at least 10 to 30+ are stuck and the puller will not work. Before breaking them off at the deck level, I go straight to the method of cutting off the stud about an inch so above the deck. Then I use cheap hardware store 1/2 inch common coarse thread nuts that will slip over the cutoff 7/16 stud. Then I weld the hell out of it to the stud. Now you have made a bolt and the heat into the stud will expand and shrink, thus breaking the bond from rust. Take your trusty impact wrench and just sit on it until something happens. Either the stud comes out or you weld breaks. If so ,reweld it really good and go at it again. This has been my 100% successful method. You don't need to wait for days or weeks on hoping that a chemical approach. With the double nutting/stud puller plus the welding method will get all of them out within a couple of hours or so . Cost is a bag of nuts for a couple of bucks.
My opinion and my experience
 
In the early 70’s I decided to bring my 1937 Cabriolet back to Henry’s spects. I eventually found a correct engine in a junkyard in Brewer, Me that I bought “as is, where is”. When I got it home and began to dissemble it I broke a number of headbolts off flush to the block. It was one of those “aw sh*t” moments for sure. I took the bare block to my local machine shop and Orville said, “come back tomorrow “! I stopped by the next day and it was ready to go! I noticed that there were a number of short broken headbolts on the floor. Each one had a large nut welded to it it. Of course Orville was not willing to tell me how he had extracted the broken studs but when I saw the studs on the shop floor it became apparent to me what his method was. The heat of the weldind process broke the rust bond that broke the studs in the first place! The ten dollars that he charged me was cheap for the lesson I learned.

John
 
John Gibson said:
In the early 70’s I decided to bring my 1937 Cabriolet back to Henry’s spects. I eventually found a correct engine in a junkyard in Brewer, Me that I bought “as is, where is”. When I got it home and began to dissemble it I broke a number of headbolts off flush to the block. It was one of those “aw sh*t” moments for sure. I took the bare block to my local machine shop and Orville said, “come back tomorrow “! I stopped by the next day and it was ready to go! I noticed that there were a number of short broken headbolts on the floor. Each one had a large nut welded to it it. Of course Orville was not willing to tell me how he had extracted the broken studs but when I saw the studs on the shop floor it became apparent to me what his method was. The heat of the weldind process broke the rust bond that broke the studs in the first place! The ten dollars that he charged me was cheap for the lesson I learned.

John
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Yes, I did two on an 8RT motor this way. I agree with the heat from the MIG was probably the trick version the ability getting a wrench to a nut to turn the stud. That stud was still a dull red when I got it out of the block.
 
If you break the studs off (they always break right at the deck level), then your welding skills need to be pretty good to weld the nut onto the flush stud. That is why I just go ahead and cut the studs off short so I at least have something to weld to. The method works best with electric welding as the idea is to get a lot of heat into the stud quickly so it can expand against the cold block and crush the rust/corrosion. Then when it cools, it shrinks back to size with a slight gap from the crushed rust. So you have three things going for you with this method. First you get the thermal shock to loosen the corrosion, then you get a bolt made to work with and third you can use the old impact theory of mechanical shock until it finally gives up.
I have even skipped the doubling nutting try and have gone straight to the cut off the studs and weld on the cheap nuts (the kind you buy by the pound). I think this saves time.
My opinion
 
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