Stubborn head

1941 - 1945, MB, GPW Technical questions and discussions, regarding anything related to the WWII jeep.
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DrPhil
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Stubborn head

Post by DrPhil » Tue Dec 05, 2017 12:24 am

Back again,

Slowly getting into shifting the drive train from a quasi-44 GPW to a genuine 42 GPW frame and body. First step is to get the darn rusted in spark plug out, but need to get the head off to drill it out properly.

Question: We have removed all the peripheral parts and the nuts from the head, but cannot get the head loose from the block. We tried 'gently' inserting a lever between the two but the head gasket seems to have turned to cement. I don't want to damage either the head or the block.

Any ideas?

Phil


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twinflyer17
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Re: Stubborn head

Post by twinflyer17 » Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:41 am

bantamj wrote:
Tue Dec 05, 2017 1:12 am
Sometimes the stud is so corroded that it breakes, then you have to drill the stud away.
Been there, done that. Pray it doesn't happen. I'd spray each stud with PB Blaster every day for a week, minimum. Let it sit and penetrate so that it helps to break down any rust/corrosion that is helping to bind the studs to the head and the block. This won't guarantee that the studs won't still break, but it will certainly help. I also had the same issue when I removed the head to my GPW's engine. What I did to help initially was wrap a strap around the thermostat housing and connected it to a come-along connected to the beam in my garage. Only putting a small amount much pressure on it, so that it wouldn't break or damage the housing, I gradually cranked so that some upward pressure was put on the head. I then used a rubber mallet and tapped all the way around the head and used a gasket scraper (same as this: https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tnpla/ ... d=98376411) to get in between the head and the block - evenly, of course. After a lot of time and patience, the head finally came loose without any damage to it or the block.

Good luck!
Sean

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W. Winget
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Re: Stubborn head

Post by W. Winget » Tue Dec 05, 2017 4:47 am

Did you try turning the engine over? Compression will do wonders to loosen a head if the nuts are loosened or removed. At least it's designed to have that pressure spread upon the whole of the chamber.
Just a thought, I've used a large rubber mallet repeatedly, but the spinning of the crank would likely do it quicker.
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dpcd67
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Re: Stubborn head

Post by dpcd67 » Tue Dec 05, 2017 6:33 am

Yes, put the spark plugs in and spin it over; it will pop up. I also have used wood wedges on each end; those won't hurt anything. And removing the studs is good too, but tedious. I want the head off, now. Never had one fail to come off with the above mentioned methods. Don't be tempted to use a screwdriver, (although I have).
Your machine shop has to remove the studs anyway to rebore it, and they are cheap, so don't be afraid of removing them either if you are so inclined. 7/16ths studs are very common and used on Dodges too.
Oh, I have a big dead blow hammer that is fun to use. Not sure if it helps.
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DrPhil
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Re: Stubborn head

Post by DrPhil » Wed Dec 06, 2017 11:15 pm

Excellent suggestions. Thanks folks. We found that one stud came out with the nut, and one was not a stud but a bolt (seemingly slightly larger than the removed stud suggesting somebody had rebored the head to make it fit). Some of the nuts were easy to remove but about half of them took a fair bit of grunt to get them to turn.

I will try the hammer on the stud trick, not particularly worrying if I damage the thread, and see if kicking it over loosens it at all. If nothing it will be interesting to see what happens :-)


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