[TR] TR6 head removal

[Geo Hahn]

As an aside -- my technique for avoiding a stuck head is to blow a head
gasket, get a valve job, break a piston ring, drop a screw down a spark
plug hole, etc. once every 4 years or so.

That pretty much guarantees that the head will come free with the side
bonus that your elapsed time to R&R the thing will get quite good.

Geo


On Mon, Oct 14, 2013 at 7:18 AM, Randall <TR3driver at ca.rr.com> wrote:

> > My friends here are going to call their friends in shops for
> > more help and
> > advice, before I end up having it towed to a shop.
> > Any and all additional suggestions or comments would be
> > appreciated.
>
> Has the head moved at all?  Or is it still firmly against the block along
> the entire length?  If you managed to lift one end at all
> (even 1/16"), then it may be bound up against the studs and you need to
> drive that end back down while you concentrate on doing the
> same thing to the other end.  That is what happened when I tried to use a
> hoist to lift a TR3 head off of the studs.  The head bound
> on the studs and lifted the car off the ground, even though it came free
> and came right off once I set the car down and drove the
> lifted end back down.
>
> Also, I think you mentioned packing rope into #5 and #6, but that would
> not be correct.  You want to use #1 and #6 as they come to
> TDC at the same time.  Turn the engine backwards as far as it will go, and
> then use the starter to spin it forward.  You'll probably
> have to repeat this dozens of times to see any movement at all.
>
> Here are some more extreme suggestions, but probably it would be better to
> let a shop tackle it:
>
> 1) Use an arc welder to pass enough current through the studs to get them
> hot.  You can also weld a nut to the stud at the same time
> to get a firmer grip without relying on the stud threads.
>
> 2) Build a tool similar to that used by the TR7 & Stag folks to remove
> recalcitrant heads.  This is basically a large (and heavy)
> weldment that bolts to the head on both sides, and has large set screws
> that bear against the top of the studs.  Offhand, I'm not
> sure where you would mount to a TR6 head on the LH side, the spark plug
> holes are the only threads on that side that I can think of.
>
> As a side comment, this is a very common problem with the TR7 and Stag
> motors; and it is not uncommon to find motors that have been
> destroyed by unsuccessful attempts to remove the head(s).  Reportedly the
> above tool works a treat, even when other methods fail.
>
>
> 3), which I plan to try if I ever get that far down my todo list, to build
> a home EDM (electrical discharge machining) machine and
> use it to cut the studs out of the head.  There have been several sets of
> plans published in Home Shop Machinist (reprints are
> available from Village Press).  Basically, you need a drive mechanism that
> will advance a section of brass tubing under "computer"
> control, through the center of the stud; plus a power supply that will
> generate several hundred volts of DC without being damaged by
> a short circuit.  The logic circuit monitors the voltage and advances the
> tool when the voltage is high, retracts it when the
> voltage is low.  Each time it moves, the resulting spark removes a tiny
> piece of metal from the stud.  A small pump circulates fluid
> through the center of the tube and a catch basin around the stud, to carry
> away the tiny bits.  It's a very slow process (hence the
> need for automation), but will cut anything that will conduct (eg hardened
> steel) without wandering.  The classic example is cutting
> a gear-shaped hole through a file.
>
> Randall
>
> [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of
> Head removal tool 3.jpg]
>
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