Pour Vinegar every hour with a syringe into the 10 studs holes do that for a day
next day Pray first then try to lift the head. Did the PO or U use tap water for cooling ?
if yr answer is "YES" prepare to pay dearly for it.

 

Is the engine in or out of the car? Did you give it a few whacks with a soft hammer or mallet? You can hit the two rear corners and the front, right corner pretty hard with a dead blow hammer with out damage. Might be difficult with the engine in the car.

Another possibility is to put rope down one of the cylinders through the spark plug hole and then bring that piston to the top of the cylinder, pushing the rope against the head and hopefully loosening the head.

You could fabricate a head puller. There are several threads that discuss this. Essentially this is a piece of 1/2 inch steel plate that sits on top of the head studs and has a hole in it for a piece of threaded rod that is welded to the bottom portion of a spark plug. The spark plug base/rod goes into a spark plug hole, passes through the plate, and is drawn upward by tightening a nut. It is possible to pull the threads out of the spark plug hole if the head is really stuck though.

Things get more involved if a dead blow hammer, rope, or a puller do not free the head. Good luck and post your progress.

 

It is still in the car. I have tried all the above except the rope trick which I have used a long time ago and forgot about.

I didn't use the spark plug hole but the water plug and the threads started to give so quit that option.

I even tried a wedge under the left front edge where it is beefy and no go.

thanks

 

I am having the same problem with the head. I have tried everything, even removing the front cover and hitting the front of the head with a sledge, two inch pipe and a 2x6 on the head. No luck. Is there a shop that will do this for me, and of coarse for money?

 

and me. it's taken 3 days to get the inlet manifold off. In the end had to used heat!
Still battling to get the head off of my TS 2.0

 

The rope trick is a very good place to start, particularly if the engine is in the car. Along the same lines, you could turn the engine over with the starter motor and see if compression will break the head loose. If you do that, there is a possibility the liners will move and you'll get coolant in the sump but a small price to pay to save the engine.

The vinegar suggestion is a good one. Continue adding vinegar around the studs for a week or two. With the washers removed, thread the head nuts back on and tap on them from different directions with a brass hammer. The idea is to loosen up the corrosion between the head and the studs.

The head puller can work. If you use a torque wrench and don't exceed 50-55 lbs/ft as you turn the nut, it is unlikely you'll damage the spark plug threads.

I also tried fittings for a grease gun that fit in the spark plug holes. The idea is to bring a pair of pistons to the top, lock the flywheel or otherwise prevent the engine from turning and then use a pneumatic grease gun to pressurize each combustion chamber and hopefully push the head loose.

These ideas came from Gordon Raymond, Papajam, and other Members here. I have not had success but I am not giving up yet. Good luck and post your progress.

 

I think the only reason I have to replace the head gasket is some twit before me had low oil pressure and instead of replacing the oil pressure sensor put a heaver spring in the oil pump. When cold I had 40 PSI and when hot at idle basically 0! I changed the oil pressure sensor and wham over 120 PSI on the gauge. Removed pump and cut off 2 rings on the spring and now it is about 60 and never goes below 30. But the leak was started and so now the 1 day job has turned into a pain in the back side. Hoping to get done before the cold hits tuesday, but will need to wait till I get back from South Carolina trip.

 

Try making head puller set up like these:

http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/164-168-1991-1995/151932-v6-4-cylinder-head-removal-tools.html

 

rubani,

I empathize. The engine in the '88 Spider was running fine but had a bothersome oil leak on the exhaust side so decided to replace the head gasket. I currently have 200 lbs of scrap aluminum. AlfaBB member, Gordon Raymond, has pointed out that careful perseverance will eventually yield positive results with parts and money saved. Two-liter engines are hardly rare today but eventually they will become harder to find and correspondingly more expensive. To that end, it is worth the long and sometimes frustrating process to save them whenever possible IMO.

After a couple of weeks of working on my head with minimal progress, I needed to get the car back on the road. With help from Ed Prytherch (Alfaparticle), I was able to find a good used engine. Soon, I'll be able to focus on the stuck head again.

Try the rope and make a head puller as Alfisto Steve suggests. Apply both techniques simultaneously after applying vinegar or penetrating oil at the studs for a few days and tapping on the head nuts. Resist all temptation to pry between the head and the block. If it looks like this is going to be an extended process and you need the car, consider looking for a used engine that will require minimal work to put in service.

Let us know how you progress. Good luck.

 

I had a seriously stuck head to the point i was ready to junk the engine...
it took 15 days in all , last 3 days was the sollution - LOTS OF VINEGAR and a 2 spark hole
custom head puller , eventually fixed the sob

 

This is what I did

I used an old sailboat halyard (strong and doesn't stretch much). Made a big loop, slipped it over the head and then attached the loose ends of the loops (on the forward and aft ends of the head) to my chain lift -- which I had used to pull the engine the previous day.

There is a lip on the casting around the head and if the loop is the right length it will retain the loop and snug up nicely. I soaked the studs with PB Blaster the night before.

I whacked the studs and corners of the head with a rubber mallet while adding tension. Just before the engine and stand lifted off the ground, it began to come loose. I had all the materials to build a lifter as depicted in the bb, but thought I'd give force a try. Perhaps I was just lucky.

The head has since been shipped to Progressive Automotive in Tacoma, WA for freshening and Stage 1 warming.

 

This is what the original factory Alfa tool used to remove the head, should be easy to make one, it will make life easy for you if you do make one. It will take time to make it, but you will have a tool ready for the next engine

 

..on the 'liners' i have removed a few heads..20-30 of the buggers some easy some.. i never mover a ' liner off the block. ... i used the rope trick.. and found it the easy way to do it... but before you do that.. all the bolts off? yes.. spark plugs in? yes..good.. now spin the motor over with the starter.. the compression will lift it a bit..it's not the gasket giving you troble,, it's the studs giving you trouble.. after you spin the motor,, lower the 2 and 3 pistons to the bottom.. thread in a lot of 1/4" nylon rope.... turn motor over by hand..is it lifting? after you get the head up a little get some wood scrapes and stuff them below the head on 1 and 4 this will allow you to lift the head off, , and if it only goes up a little bit, the wood will stop it from coming back down on the block, lift the head, insert wood.. repete... soon the head will be off the block.. after you have the head off the block, get some of those brass rifle cleaning brushes.. stuff on in a drill , and go at the holes that the studs go into in the head.. nice and clean..it will make it easyer the next time.

 

tools

I just listed a set of these head pullers on ebay. Maybe of interest to you?

Alfa Romeo cylinder head removal tool Spider GTV - eBay (item 330500101445 end time Nov-30-10 19:06:42 PST)

 

I just listed a set of these head pullers on ebay. Maybe of interest to you?

Alfa Romeo cylinder head removal tool Spider GTV - eBay (item 330500101445 end time Nov-30-10 19:06:42 PST)

would you ship to the UK. If so how much to Cambridge, uk, CB22 4WL

thanks

 

I have made some progress tonight. It moved 1 inch. Front 8 studs are corroded pretty good. I made the 4 hole sparkplug plate and spark plug rods. # 3 hole was bad from before i bought the car so was not surprised when it pulled the threads. The other 3 held so far. With the three the head still would not move even with the vinegar trick over several days. I finally used my portapower jack on the front large bolt and Alternator mount and got it to move while also using the sparkplug threaded rods. I also moved the portapower to the rear and used the transmission housing and rear oil drain bosses and now I have the top of the head to the top of the 10 studs. Now I will need to make 10 extensions to the plate over the 10 studs so I can make more progress tomorrow night.

What a pain in the back side this is turning out to be! A 4 hr job turning into a 4 week nightmare.

 

Feel for you m8. I have only just got the head off my 8v TS engine. I had to make a plate also. In the end one of the centre stud was stopping it coming off so had to wiggle it up and down, but she finally gave way.

It's gonna be worth it though!

 

Excellent work! Since you have moved it this far, I wonder if working it up and down a little would free things up. Can you just add four or six extensions to your puller rather than eight or ten? Another possibility for pushing the studs through the head is an air chisel with a brass drift. You'll need to use an engine hoist or otherwise put tension on the head and then use the chisel and drift directly on the top of the studs. You need to keep a careful eye on the drift though as the end will enlarge and can get stuck in the hole.

This is very encouraging. Do you know how much torque you applied to the puller nuts? Thanks for the update.

 

The head fought all the way as the crud was pretty bad and got into the threads, I just kept walking it up with the portapower jack and putting blocks under the otherend as I jacked up.

Cleaned up the studs and drilled out the head holes and new gasket and seals we are all back together and running. No leaks seen so far after driving to workand back about 6 miles. Had adjusted the valves as that was really needed also as one was .005 and another .010.

I htink that the previous person had the cam shafts of one tooth also. It never really ran very good and seems to be much better. Also changed 2 injectors as one was leaky and the other one flakey. Need to build myself a real tester pump with gauge.

Thanks for all the info you all supplied.

 

I’ve got the dreaded he’d gasket failure. I plan to remove the head at the weekend and check it is still flat and replace the head gasket and all the other associated gaskets. Can I remove the head with the cams in? If I the head is flat all I want to do is pull the head replace the gaskets then put the head back it feels like it saves a bit of spannering and additional source of error?

Paul
1976 Spider 2000

 

Yes, you can leave cams on head. Before you start rotate engine to top dead center on #1 cylinder and look for cam chain master link. If you don't see it near or between pullies rotate crank another 360 degrees so you can see master link.

Make note of which way two front lobes facing on cams facing and where the distributor rotor facing towards #1 sparkplug wire terminal in cap. add two pieces of some bendable long safety wire to ends of timing chain when you take master link out so you don't drop chain into front of engine.
Also locate chain tensioner adjusting screw on right front side of engine near distributor cap for future reference when you may need to retension timing chain after reinstalling head.

Once you have head off do not rotate crank shaft unless you have installed hold down washers, long hollow tubes, head nuts and washers on studs between wet sleeve piston liners as there are tiny sealing fragile rubber o-rings under them to prevent coolant from getting into oil in crankcase..

Secure ends of wire holding timing chain ends so chain doesn't fall into front of engine. If you rotate crank you will have to juggle chain on front chain sprocket to be able to rotate crankshaft to clean piston tops.

As you lift head off and install those hold down washers take note if one of those piston liners lifted as head came off.

Now with hold down washers in place and timing chain ends safely wired up you can rotate crank to raise and lower pistons to clean carbon of piston tops. Just be sure to put #1 piston full up and have distributor rotor back to #1 wire terminal position in cap.

 

Thanks for the useful tips.

 

I read the above horror stories and decided to use seafoam penetrating oil, it had worked miracles on steel stud stuck in an alloy hub carrier.. I spent two days dripping it on the studs and when it came to lift... Came straight off.