Now whilst it is soaking in penetrating fluid, whats the best way forward, as you can see the nut is well rounded off and quite damaged (not by me I hasten to add!)
This was a runner I bought from ebay but doesn't circulate water. I have a new head gasket and I am going down the clean out and rebuild route. Every single other nut/bolt undid nicely (including removing the flywheel) perhaps someone else has had this one apart and got stuck at this point)
Once I get the nut off I assume I will require some suitable old weird and wonderful British Thread nuts/studs to replace it?
What I do is get some heat on the nut with a blow lamp (dont melt the ali head) get it as hot as you dare. Then tap a tight fitting socket on to the nut, give it a turn and off it should come.
John can supply all of the nuts bolts and studs that you need (BSF).
If that doesn't work you still have the option of carefully grinding the head off the bolt and removing the head. Then you can weld a good nut on, the welding heat might do the trick. I find that if they are truely stuck, penetrating oils don't have much effect.
Seized bolt.
I don't bother with a stud remover unless absolutely unavoidable.
The only and virtually infallible method is with the mig welder.
Weld a bar at 45 degrees to the end of the broken stud. Or the nearest to 90 degrees possible. Weld at top ampage. The mig heat very quickly expands the joint which will then cool and be sufficiently malleable to move.
Not a full turn. Just a smidgeon, anti clockwise. Then a smidgeon clockwise. Continue back and forwards in tiny increments until a half turn or less is possible. Increase patiently and it will remove.
No mig welder? Go and buy one. Its the the no. 2 spanner. Very quick and v.easy to learn . . .
looks like you've got some sorting out to do anyway as the other stud has sheared - I'd be tempted to put a hacksaw through the nut and stud (end-on) until the blade just bottoms out on the head casting. You might need a small chisel jsut to knock the nut away from the stud as it si so badly corroded.
When the head is free of all the studs (I assume the other pair are in a similar state) - get the head off, which opens up all the possibilities - favourite would be to clamp each stud in turn in a vice,and helped by plenty of heat, unwind the studs.
Do this slowly at first - rock the cylinder in both directions at first, until some movement is felt, as forcing it will just result in the studs shearing off flush with the cylinder, which then means the ticklish job of drilling the studs out etc.
Run a tap (5/16"BSF) in the holes before fitting new studs or bolts, and use a lubricant (coppergrease or similar) when fitting new fasteners. Rick
Just another thought or two - I should have said 'when the head is free of all the NUTS' ( just tidying the Christmas booze leftovers), and I think I m right in saying that in addition to the studs/nuts/bolts, John isselling sets of BSF taps and dies, which should be helpful to anyone who finds BSF to be an obscure gauge. Rick
Its an optical illusion, the other stud hasn't sheared. The nut simply undid, leaving the stud in the block. The others came out complete with the studs, so the nut in the picture is the only truly stuck one.
I would still split that nut, put a hack saw down the side of the nut avioding the thread on the stud. take a small chisle and tap the nut off, Drop John a line about some new stainless head nuts, a small amount of copper grease on re assembly and jobs a goodun. Not only looks good but adds value and avoids the problem in the future, the choice is yours but thats the way i would takle it.
Life is what you make it, and what you make could change your life.
I tried the MIG but mine wasn't powerful enough to create a strong enough weld on the nut/stud to put leverage on. Therefore I tried the hacksaw down the middle trick and it worked fine.
As promised elsewhere on this forum by someone who has "been there, done that and got the T-shirt" I peeled back the headgasket to find an apparantly completely smooth surface. A quick poke with a small blade revealed the 100% blocked waterways, no air gap at all, they were completely solid. I have prised the bulk of the silt/rust out. Is there a good solvent/cleaner to ensure it is 100% clear?
I will phone John tomorrow to source some replacement studs, I think someone has been here before me as a couple of the studs look new and possible even stainless.
So if you could continue the copper grease argument it should be settled by the time I get the new bolts (if copper grease creates a galvanic reaction why is the headgasket copper?)
If by copper grease you mean Molyslip's "Copaslip" I think you will find that despite containing metallic copper it is not electrically conducting.
The alternatives are of course:
Alumslip which contains graphite and aluminium but which is said not to be so effective as a lubricant or as a protective against rusting or
corrosion.
PBC or Polybutyl cuprysil, from FUCHS LUBRITECH (UK) LTD, which contains an organo-metallic complex rather than metallic copper.
Hmmm
All I do is wait till the wife is out shopping then stick the whole thing in the fan oven at 250 for 20 mins,
then wack a tight socket on the nut then the stud should unscrew.
Ray
