1987 Ferrari Testarossa Head removal -Stuck bad!

I know of a guy here that has a 328 engine stuck together for the past 3 or 4 years without the head moving a single mm.

Good Luck.

 

I'm sure you've checked 100 times to make sure all the nuts were off. Will all the washers come off the studs? Sometimes they'll lock themselves on. You'd probably prefer not to put a wedge of some kind in between the block and head and hammer on it like you can do on a chevy. I feel your pain. Looking at the parts diagram I don't see anything obvious that could have been overlooked. Doesn't look like you can split the block without first removing pistons from the top? Pound of C4?

 

Read this somewhere...

http://www.speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=18380

 

Actually I wonder if that would work?


Valves are already bent and head work already needed so what is potentially a little more ..........




Honest question as I don't know.

 

I thought it was funny and it probably does work for a SBC. But on a high dollar Ferrari I'd be afraid that the studs might get yanked/ripped out of the block. Especially for "heads that had been over heated and swaged onto the stud threads".

 

Ok, so is "drilling them (the studs) out" the answer?

 

Kind of sounds like corrosion between the studs/head. Try to get hold of a collet-type stud remover/extractor like this-
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IFF_-6xwpE[/ame]
If you can loosen some of the studs and break up the corrosion that might loosen the head enough to pull it off.

 

I don't think you can pull the studs from their current location. The more I think about it, the more I believe I'd (after making sure I was alone) use a nice Ferrari tools #1 and #2: 3lb Hammer and long Chisel.

 

I don't know what the trick is but if it were mine I'd rather skip the brute force on aluminum alloys. Maybe strip the block and tank it for awhile...

 

Fill the cylinders with water, plug the spark plug holes and freeze it?

 

I recently had a cast iron head on a big truck engine at work that wouldn't budge after we removed all the nuts off the studs. We hooked it up to the crane (25 tonne crane) and tried to lift off but it started to stretch the slings.

The only thing we could do was use a hammer to try and loosen it. So after 10 or so hard blows with a big copper sledge-hammer, the head loosened.

I don't know how you tried to use and broke those porta-power rams on this job, but perhaps lay the engine back down on the tyre and flog the living **** out of the side of the head with a big copper sledge-hammer.

If you use a steel hammer, you will destroy the head. A copper hammer is soft enough to not damage the head, but you do lose a lot of the impact. So you have to hit harder.

I think you need a 'shock' here to loosen the head from the block. Pulling or pressing it off will not do the job me thinks.

Alloy and steel can "weld" themselves together, so it must be stuck on the studs as Gearjammer just mentioned.

You don't want to damage the head, but I would try some hard hits with a copper hammer mate. Even if you place the wood over the area you are hitting again, just make sure it's a big hammer and you swing hard and fast.

I know my idea is Barbaric, but sometimes it's the only thing you can do.

Good luck and be sure to let us know how you get along.

 

Suggest you fill out your profile. Maybe there's somebody local who can help.

 

I have been in a similar situation a long long time ago with a 65 buick skylark alum engine.

The only thing that finally worked was torching it untill it was about red hot and hitting it a few good shots and prying from each end..

I am sure this is a nightmare good luck..

 

Send it back to Ferrari. Let them do it. Whatever the shipping is it 's got to be cheaper then replacing an engine.

 

Seriously here is an idea. If you could make many many ultra small bores along the seam of the head and block, this would reduce the frozen surface area about 50%. I mean very very small bores. Microns in diameter so that the two surfaces could be remachined flat with only removing thousandths to achieve flat again. How do you accomplish this? With a precision CO2 industrial cutting laser. Call these folks or others like them and ask if they would help out with this technical job on their site:

http://www.prclaser.com/ check out their cutting calculator

I bet they might find this a really interesting application and there is no question that the concept is valid.

Upper diagram enlarged version of lower. Dark area=head, light area=block
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That's all I need to hear.

SMACK that **** hard!!

 

Wow interesting idea, frozen water can crack a block so I imagine it might work

 

I'd purchase another engine ... seriously they must be cheap by now. Atleast if you had another engine you could cut the head off this one and use another head if you wanted to maintain matching numbers.

Otherwise you need to make something that can screw into the plug holes and push down on the head studs ... but that will be a challenge.
Pete

 

*******If you look at the second photo you will see that the studs are kind of hidden beneath part of the head*********

I see what you are dealing with now. It wasn't apparent from the picture, but I downloaded the WSM and see the studs are inset.

All I could suggest is lots of heat (oxy-acetylene levels of heat) in the stud areas and judicious application of a non-ferrous hammer or mallet as Pap suggests. If you could also run an expendable nut down a few threads on each stud (to create a 'pocket' for a punch) and give each stud several sharp shots while still hot that might help free them up. You will have to be careful with a torch though as you can easily burn through alloy if you are not careful - this is something which takes experience and practice.

I don't envy you this one - seized parts are always a pain to dismantle without some type of damage.

 

Another option, and I would only suggest this if you are at a impasse, and have safety goggles, fire apparatus, a bunker, and government permits.

If you take an oxy-acetylene torch and get a proper flame burning and then tap it out you get a good fuel/air ratio. Fill each cyl and then install the plugs and fire them all at once. Surely something will depart the block.

-Note; For maximum effect Adam West should narrate the effort.

 

Please video this

Pete

 

Why not make 6 threaded rods with blunt ends to push against each piston top. Evenly torque each to 20 or so ft lbs and then go with the heat/ soak/ beat etc methods as described.

This is speculation.... never tried it.

Rgds,
Vincenzo