Hugh,
Here's some advice (below) I gave someone else just recently. Whatever
method you use, I hope it works out for you, i know it can be frustrating.
Regards,
Geoff Parker
..."In terms of the cylinder head removal, there are all kinds of tips and
tricks out there, some of which I tried, some of which I chose not to (such
as stuffing twine into the cylinder through the spark plug hole and rotating
the engine - heard bad things could happen). Try just lifting it off, first,
probably won't work though. Then try operating the starter and see if
compression will help - maybe it will, for me it didn't. Next, and the one
that worked for me was that: notice the intake and exhaust ports stand proud
of the head material, creating a series of undulating depressions underneath
the ports. Place a jack under car and place a jack handle, piece of rebar,
stout piece of wood - in essence, anything that can deliver the vertical
force of the jack to those depressions. When you start to jack, you'll see
the engine begin to rise, and maybe even the front wheels begin to lift.
Listen carefully as the last vestiges of adhesion will tell you audibly when
the head is about to lift off - it will make a sucking/velcro sort of noise.
The head will then suddenly release, and travel up the studs. Don't worry
about damaging the studs because you only jacked from one side. I think
because there are so many of the studs and made from steel harder than the
head itself, the load gets distributed evenly and no harm is done - plus in
three head removals, I've yet to damage the head or a stud. One preferred
method, is to remove the studs with the head still on, and then whacking the
head with a soft mallet from the side. It's supposed to release easier this
way, plus you won't have to lift a 70 lbs hunk of metal vertically over the
studs (probably the hardest part of the whole operation - and I'm a 250 lbs
second row forward!)..."
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