Very ingenious approach Mark. Just stumbled over this restoration site for those who don't have presses..... http://www.tomyang.net/cars/ferrari.html Click on 'Ferrari Restoration Tips' on the left side of page, then go to V-12 head puller.
Thanks I think what you found is for pulling the heads not the liners and very similar to what I ended up doing to remove the heads http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174815
Way to go guys! I just saw this thread tonight and read your adventures. Good Job!!! I learned something from my Mentors, that I would like to pass on to everybody. The use of 100% Bees Wax, to loosen bolts and studs and nuts. It is the original penetrant. Noah and Leonardo DaVinci, probably used it. Use it with heat, on the bolt, when it has been heated to the desired temp. It id drawn into the threaded areas, and then the bolt, nut or stud, can be removed without stripping the threads and breaking it. I've used it, Blacksmiths and friends of mine who are Dairy Farmers, and the wrench's at the Engineering Shops at the Auto companies have used it, that's where I learned of it. It works when nothing else does. Ciao...Paolo
A little brute force in the form of a collet tool holder (thanks sean) and a 3 ft pipe with some help from the oxy-acetylene removed the last stud! The torch was key, I should have started there. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Did you apply heat directly to the aluminum, or the studs? Just curious to what worked best for you. Darrell.
I heated the aluminum. I like to turn off the O2 so the torch smokes, then pass it over the area I'm planning to heat. That puts a light coat of soot on everything. Then I turn on the O2 and start heating, if/when the soot starts to burn away, you are as hot as you want to go in that spot....it's easy to turn a thin section of aluminum into a puddle with an oxy-acetylene torch
Mark, thanks for the response. I've never heard of the soot method. Good info to know. I've always been a bit nervous about using the ox-ac torch on aluminum. Your method will help a lot in the future. Regards. Darrell.
I have had bolts/studs break off near or just below flush and have had good luck with TIG welding on to the end until enough metal is built up to either weld on another nut or grab with vicegrips. Done it many times in cast iron without damaging the threads. First time I saw it done I was amazed the whole thing did not weld together but with the TIG you can concentrate the heat on the bolt and not heat up the surrounding metal enough that the filler rod will only stick to the end of the bolt. I have had great luck doing this with bolts in cast iron. Usually after quenching the bolt it comes out very easy. My guess is the high heat makes the bolt expand and after cooling the bolt comes out easy since the expansion either broke the bond of the rust or expanded the hole slighty. I have only tried this in aluminum once and did not have success. Nothing else I tried before or after did either. Drilling the hole out properly would have involved removing the cylinders but I was able to drill and tap for a smaller bolt inside the diameter of the broken off bolt. It was a low stress bolt that was oversized anyway.
