Still Trying to get this damn engine IN! Part II

[superloaf]

wow, how do you seperate the heads from the block? should it just slide off easily? i can't get it off the studs. do the studs bend? one seems to be catching and not letting the head come off.

meanwhile, i've destroyed the old gasket and worried about head & block surfaces where i've used a jack handle to try and pry them apart. BTW this is on my "extra" engine. but i'm worried i'll have the same problem on my new engine when i try to replace the head gaskets. is this common or do i have a "problem child?"

[75evo]

Probably corrosion of the studs at work here. The prying part doesn't sound too good as you might have left indentation marks on the block or heads since they are cast aluminum. Maybe lots and lots of penetrating oil on all the studs and leat it soak overnight? Yes the heads should slide off easily.

[Murray]

Yes definately back off on the prying.You're dealing with two smoothly machined aluminium surfaces and they are easily damaged.The heads should smoothly slide up the studs but you have to ensure that you're pulling them up evenly otherwise they'll snag on the stud threads.If you have to do any coaxing use a piece of wood it's less likely to do any damage.

Quote:

do i have a "problem child?"

[superloaf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Murray -Yes and her name is ALFA

[Alfisto Steve]

You will need to build a puller like used on 4 cylinder engine to get head off as one at least one head stud frozen with dissimiliar metal corrosion.

Took use about a week to work off a stuck head on my daugther's old Milano.

I made a rectangle AL plate with floating stud to fit in sparkplug hole. Plate lays over at least 4 head studs and floating stud has threaded rod with washers and nuts to apply force to pull head up off studs.

See this post:

Stuck head on a 78

[superloaf]

got it off. 1 down, 3 to go. sprayed it well with penetrating oil and then went back & forth pushing head down on studs and yanking upwards. eventually it came off. and no damage to surfaces from my bullheaded prying.

i sat staring at the pistons for about 5 minutes. am i crazy for loving these cars? friggin' work of art, that engine. the cylinders look very good, smooth with a little crosshatching still to be seen. 2 intake valves bent. the rest look ok.

so if i just replaced the 2 intake valves (plus whatever the other head needs) would these heads be good? does a bent valve damage the seat? or when putting new valves in, do the seats need to be replaced as well? and when do pistons need replacement? i can see small marks in them where they hit valves. do these small indentations cause problems?

and is there a way to clean all these parts without damaging whatever good parts remain? or do i have to disassemble everything & drop it off at a machine shop?

[superloaf]

hey guys, a couple of new questions for you:

1) got the heads off my old engine with the bent valves but i found a couple of strange things. first, under the head gasket which was all puffy and waterlogged, the aluminum of the head appears to have corroded. have any of you ever seen this? and does this mean the head is trash?


2) then in one of the cylinders i found some pieces of metal. any ideas where this came from? one piece had actually become stuck in the exhaust valve when the valve tried to close.


also, there were no o rings around the oil passage hole. do the current head gaskets not use these?

and finally, why is the oil pan in two pieces? in other words, if i remove the lower part, does that allow complete access to clean out the sump or should i remove the entire pan?