Cylinder Liner HELP

[Larry G]

Thanks all. Finally got them out. We built a puller that lifted them out undamaged. Turns out the PO had put them in with a HEAVY coat of black silicone and no o-ring seals. Just made it hard to get out, they had still leaked. Will try to post a picture of the puller so if anyone else has the problem, they'll know what to try.

Larry G

[Larry G]

Finally got these photos down in size so I could load them. The puller is made from scrap steel around the shop and some all-thread rod. One photo shows the puller and the other shows how it sits on the block (the liner is already out to show better how it fits). It put an even pull on the liner and lifted it out with no damage at all. Thanks again to all who contributed ideas.

Larry G

76 Alfetta GT

[othercarsaford]

Good idea, and much less messy than plastic explosives.

[Dean T]

This is soo cool!

[Carl Goodwin]

A related problem is stuck pistons. I just got all four pistons out of an early 750 series engine, #0223, using hot water. They were stuck in there pretty good, too! Of course I squirted in some solvent, but I'm not sure if it worked - I do know it didn't hurt. First I packed the cylinder with some snow. That cooled and shrunk the piston. Then I filled the area around the liners with boiling hot water. That expanded the liners. Then I turned the engine upside down and drove the pistons out the top (they will not go through the bottom). It wasn't quite as easy as that because, with a couple of them, I had to drive them down to break them loose in the bore. I did this holding a large steel hammer on top of the piston and hitting it with a brass knockoff mallet. When I turned the engine over, I used a large piece of metal (about 2" x 2" x 6" steel) to get the piston rod started and then a piece of hardwood (a section of tree branch - elm - about 1-1/2" dia. x 8" in length) to drive the piston all the way out of the cylinder. For pistons that are really stuck you may have to repeat the procedure a few times. For northerners, this is a seasonal technique; for southerners, you might be able to use a deep freeze. Good luck. -- Carl Goodwin, Ohio, '56 Giulietta #0253

[Rich]

Hey Larry and members,

I know its too late now, but this is the correct Alfa tool for removing liners. This one is for 2L

[Larry G]

Cool. It's about what I had envisioned it must be. I came up with basically a simplified version. The original is even threaded (it appears) to take a driver shaft or a puller like what we built.

Thanks
Larry G

[greg]

Other easy way is to use CO2 fire Extinguisher just spray inside the liner.
Never tried on ALFA didn't had chance but tried on marine diesels before it works .


Greg

[Carl Goodwin]

Greg -- How does the CO2 fire extinguisher work? Does it cool the pistons and/or cylinders and shrink them for removal? Not to change the subject, but I wonder if that would work on spark plugs stuck in their threads for a long time? -- Carl Goodwin, '56 Giulietta, Ohio

[greg]

Yes it will shrink the liner >We once used large amount of fire extinguishers to remove liner from 19000 horse power marine engine. Also i would give a try for plugs old good wd 40 spray it realy generoslly and let it soak for atl east 12 hours.

[MrT]

One technical refrigerant (test tubes, biological samples, etc) used is dry ice in acetone. The acetone doesn't freeze, but it does indeed carry the cold around. If you get the hots for really cold stuff, just put some dry ice from your local vendor into a bit of acetone for a while. If you want to cool anything off, either put it into the acetone/CO2 mix or pour some of stuff into the thing you want to cool. I don't think I'd pour any of that into a spark plug well, though, for fear of cracking the ceramic on the plug. Well, maybe I'd put in a teaspoon if I were desperate. This source of _cold_ might be useful to someone here, and I thought I'd mention it here with the CO2 fire extinguisher to cool things off.

[sunsprit]

Working on a 2L motor today, I also had a set of "stuck" liners in the block.

Looking around the shop for a "scrap" piece of material to make a puller, I found a piece of "Renblock", 2" thick by about 4 inches square. I drilled the center 1/2" for a puller attachment point, and then turned the first 3/4" to a diameter just able to fit into the cylinder bore, with the rest of it to just under the diameter of the counterbore in the block. I cut the sides off enough to allow the block to fit between the main bearing support areas, and threaded a piece of "all thread" into the block. With a wooden 2" x 4" "bridge" on top of the block, a nut w/washers on top was able to smoothly pull out each liner.

I used the soft "renblock" material for the puller rather than risk using a piece of metal that could possibly damage the liner bore in the block or the liner. Also, this material is very free machining, and took only a few minutes to turn into a very accurate piece that was self centering in the cylinder liner. Since the liners tend to slip out easily, I believe you could make the puller piece out of a piece of hard plastic, which would also be free machining. Even a chunk of plexiglass would work .... All are inexpensive and readily available from modelmakers or plastic suply houses.

[kredden]

Two questions...did it work? And do you have any pics?

Kevin

[sunsprit]

Worked beautifully with the long piece of 1/2' dia "all-thread" doing the pulling to the top. The liners had been sealed with the "O" rings and some hardening sealer on the last assembly of the motor, which is why they were "stuck" in the block.

I prefer to use a puller anytime it's possible rather than beating on parts, as it's more controllable and smoother in action.

The shape of the tool block I made is almost identical to the "factory tool" posted by Rich above. An essential aspect of this is that the upper portion of the tool body centers the tool in the liner so that there's no chance of it being off to one side, possibly scoring the aluminum where the liner sits ... as in the other self-made puller by the OP.

If I can get my digital camera working, I'll post a picture later this week.

[DrEntropy]

Late to the party but: This was machined by a local machine shop for 1750's when my "official" one grew legs 'n disappeared. Didn't want to wait around for one to be shipped. All-thread and sunsprit's description of the removal process otherwise.