Bad luck

[starrider1946]

My question is can I take a head off without pulling the cylinders loose? I have once again got myself in a hell of a mess and I can't believe it because I had it happen a a small block v8. I am in the process of going from dual webers to a single 34pict. I got it on yesterday and went to crank it and it made odd sounds when I went to crank it.

When I took the webers off I pulled them off and stuffed the ports with a paper towel to make sure nothing got in the port but i believe somehow it did. The motor spit and sputtered so I was rechecking the wires and timing. When I went to roll the motor over it hits a spot when number one and number three are up that it won't roll over. I believe something must be in the number one cylinder.

The only thing I can' think of is with the Weber on that side that one of the wing nuts somehow got into the port. It was missing one when I was taking the air filter off. I am going to pull the head and see if I see anything. That is why I am asking about the cylinder. I would like for it not to come loose. Any help would be appreciated. If you want to call a give advice my phone number is 318-715-8858. Thanks

[Loner]

When you have unbolted the exhaust and the head bolts, the head will be ready to come off as a separate component. The head does captivate the cylinders to motor, so you will either need to be careful that you separate the head and cylinders as you remove, or perhaps use a flat ratchet tie-down strap to slide between the head/cylinders and cinch the cylinders down to the block by running the strap around the other side of the motor and securing (it won't need much tightening to hold the cylinders in place). The strap will also give you the ability to turn the engine over with the head off without pushing the cylinders out of the block.

Easy job but time consuming even if you have to replace head, piston and or cylinder to repair.

Good luck on your project.

[stinger608]

Pretty much exactly what Loner states. The heads can be easily removed without removing the cylinders. As he said, if you use a strap or something similar it will allow you to rotate the engine over to insure nothing else is binding the engine.

Man, hopefully it didn't bend/break a valve or piston if it is a wing nut.

[vwbug72501]

Remember, cylinder / head fins are FRAGILE in the lateral mode!!! In my past experience, the heads usually popped loose with a little hand wiggling of the heads. but if they required any "persuasion", LIGHTLY tapping on the base of the head (push rod tube area where the meat is) with a NON-STEEL, SOFT MALLET would do the trick. I can't emphasize enough.....NEVER,NEVER, NEVER HIT THE FINS OR PRY BETWEEN THE FINS AND THE HEAD.

One other thing that you might run into is that one or more of the head studs will come out. No big deal. The cylinders will stay in the block OK. Just remove the stud, break the head nut loose, clean up the threads and reinstall the stud by jamming 2 head nuts together on the outer end to allow you to screw it back into the case. Before you reinsert the head stud, carefully inspect the case area around the stud hole. If it has helicoils or case savers (threaded steel inserts) you are OK. Some earlier cases just threaded into the case and over the years the metal can fatigue and pull the threads out. Most cases at this point have inserts. # 3 cylinder runs hotter than the rest and this is usually the first studs to go.

I don't know how old your engine components are so be gentle. It is an aluminum/magnesium engine.

Good Luck.

[stinger608]

You made some very very excellent points VWbug!