My heads are stuck all the bolts are removed i tug on them and wacked the sides with a wooden block I even put a long piece of wood in the head and used it as a lever
They still wont move I the sealer last used on it must have really stuck them there how can I free them up and take them off
I usually put the trusty Craftsman 1/2 in. breaker bar in the intake port and pry up. If that doesn't work I make sure ALL the bolts are out. Then take a thin flat blade screwdriver and GENTLY tap it between the head and block. On the ends where the intake,head and block all meet..
Double check....then TRIPLE CHECK to see that ALL the bolts are out !!
Then make sure.......
Never had the head not come off if all the bolts were off.......had to insert a tire jack handle down into a intake port and pull with all my 250 LBS. a time or two........
Deuce your lucky. My friend and I were at a junk yard and it was a little before closing time. We were pulling the heads off a car and one was stuck on there like no tomorrow. It's a time like that I wish I had 250 to pull lol. Eventually both of use were able to use a hammer in the intake port to pry it off that was fun when it finally came ...flying off the tire I was standing on lol.
As was said make sure ALL bolts are out and try to pry from the intake ports. Sometimes the bottom corner ones are hidden under oil or sludge.
There has GOT to be a bolt in yet. I saw a sbc head that someone used force to get off. He had left all the lower outside bolts in and just taken out the ones under the valve cover... then he PRIED and yanked and hammered till it came off.... and left a long piece of the head still on the block WITH ALL THE SHORT BOLTS IN!!!
I never used any kind of sealer installing head gaskets. The last motor I built I used a spray on blue stuff called QuickTac or something like that. I hope I can get these heads off. I have to switch sides this spring due to a stripped alternator bolt hole.
I bought the heads from a friend. After I installed them on my motor. I came to find out someone had already put a helicoil in. Crooked I may add. Needless to say the alternator dog tracks and the belt keeps falling off.
I asked him about this and he said he had no such problems. He had the heads on opposite sides and the bolt hole in the back of the other head is perfect.
Make sure the exhaust manifolds are tied back out of the way,like several people have mentioned,make sure that all the bolts are out,get a flashlight and check both sides,look in the corners on top of the heads,Then pry,tap the edges while you do to help coax it along.
as stated there are 17 bolts- check and make sure you have the 2 on the ends under the valve cover. sometimes they fill with oil and you don't see them. If you don't know they are there you will never figure it out without cleaning out all the oil. Once they are all out do just as bobcrman stated and the head will come off.
I once had to pull the head off a benz diesel. It wouldnt budge either. We put the bolts back in but left 1/4" from the head to the bottom of the bolt, hooked a chain to the head and jacked the car up til the tires were about to leave the ground with the engine hoist. We went home and when we returned to work the following morning the heads were broke loose. Of course we replaced the head bolts 'cus they were bent.
I'll bet that everyone that suggested you check to make sure all ALL the head bolts are out has struggled with a head trying to remove it after taking all the bolts out only to find that yes they left one of the bolts in.
The first time I did it it was one of the bolts at the end of the head that gets covered in muck. The second time I did it I was absolutely positive that all the bolts were out cause I checked those ones that get hidden at the ends only to find I left one in the very center between two rocker arms.
Hmm are you really sure you got all the bolts out. Let us know how you get off.
My ex was nice enough to run her 84 GMC 3/4 ton van out of water & blew a head gasket. That head was stuck on there real good too, I ended up prying with a huge breakerbar but it did finally come off. I rebuilt the whole thing since the mileage on it was questionable & I was there anyway.
Just for future reference, if you have a conversion van & the motor goes... sell it . Yanking the motor out is NOT fun, you need to do a facectomy on the stupid thing.
(glad she took it with her )
I had a 66 Caprice with a 396. Couldn't get the intake manifold off. Pried and hit with a hammer. Wouldn't budge. Hooked the engine hoist to it and lifted the front wheels of the car off the ground. Still wouldn't come off (yes, I had all the bolts out of it!) Finally decided pulling the head bolts loose on one side would have to allow things to come apart. Pulled out all the head bolts. Pried. Smacked with a hammer. Finally used the engine hoist again on the manifold. Got the front end of the car up almost to the point of the tires coming off the ground. Tapped with a hammer and it all let loose. No damage. Only one I had ever seen like this. Not sure why to this day.
I have had to put a prybar into one of the exh ports and gently pry up as a buddy smacked the front of the head hard with a big deadblow mallet. The jarring from the hammer along with the prying aloowed the head to finally ease upward.
Just run the plug wire straight to the coil. Hook the positive side to the battery or turn the key on. Then momentarily ground the negative side. Poof.
Or if you have an HEI run a positive to the Batt terminal and ground the base either straight to the block or with a wire. Just spin the shaft. Poof.
I was helping a buddy over the summer tear down a SBC for his Monte Carlo and he was about to loosen up the head bolts to take off the heads when i stopped him and ask, are you going to take the rocker arms and push rods off first? He Said no why should i, well because your head will end up in the floor if not. He says it will not so he keeps going and sure enough the head was stuck on and it didn't end p in the floor but the other side sure did.
Someone already suggested this but put your plugs back in and crank the engine over. I would think the compression would break it loose
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Hot Rod Forum
2.2M posts
175.7K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to hot rod owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about restoration, builds, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!