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cylinder head removal

Posted: 19 Jan 2008 22:26
by c0rvette7
AHHHH!!!! I can't get my head off. I have romoved all 12 bolts, but the dang thing is stuck on there. Any advice?

Posted: 20 Jan 2008 00:47
by paul w
I did this recently.It takes time.Dont loose your temper with it.
Have you managed to remove the studs?The bolts are easy,studs need
plenty of penetration oil.The gasket seal should be broken carefully
with a rubber mallet,tapping all around head.Once it starts to lift
you can use wooden wedges to aid heads removal.Eventually the head
will come away and any studs still in block can be heated and removed
with the aid of stilsons and more penetration oil.This takes patience
about 8 hours of swearing and sore fingers in my case!

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See ya. PaulImage
p.s.should be 5 bolts 'n' 5 studs?

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Posted: 20 Jan 2008 04:47
by Rich in Vancouver
In my case it took several hours, big hammers, wedges, and lots of swearing.
Of course the big hammers and wedges destroyed the cylinder head in the process. Fortunately used cylinder heads are cheap!

Good Luck!
Rich

BTW: I have never seen such a poor design! The over-confident Triumph engineers must have been confident that the head would never have to come off for service![:o)]

1975 TR7 ACL764U
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Posted: 20 Jan 2008 15:16
by Beans
Pressuming you removed all the studs and bolts (including the ones in front of the head) it should be fairly straightforward to get the head of.
Might need a bit of persuassion with a big screw driver or flat chissel wedged between head and engine to get it free. Make sure you don't damage the mating surface.
Have a good look at Paul w's picture and you'll see where to put it.

<center>Image
<font color="blue"><i>1981 TR7 FHC Sprint (better known as 't Kreng)
1981 TR7 DHC (not very well known yet, but back on the road)
Also a 1980 TR7 DHC, 1980 TR7 DHC FI, 1981 TR7 FHC
http://tr7beans.blogspot.com/</i></font id="blue"></center>

Posted: 20 Jan 2008 17:07
by bmcecosse
If you have all the bolts and studs out - then you have done well! It should come away quite easily now, the usual problem is the bolts being chemically 'welded' to the head - the exhaust manifold if still attached (if not - consider putting it back on) makes a handy 'lever' to wiggle the head free. Just make sure ALL the bolts and studs are out!

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Posted: 20 Jan 2008 20:11
by jclay (RIP 2018)
I have never used this to REMOVE a head, but you could try the cloth rope trick to break the front end loose.

Turn the engine to about one quarter turn before TDC on #1 cylinder. Feed in as much cloth rope through #1 spark plug hole as you can, twisting it as you go. Now, rotate the crankshaft toward TDC. This will compress the rope and push the head off from the inside.

Have fun, drive fast & safe, be kewl,

jclay

Posted: 22 Jan 2008 21:48
by bmcecosse
Have you tried just cranking it as it is - camshaft re-connected and ignition disconnected of course - to see if air pressure will get it moving? Decent engine should get about 160 psi in each bore - which adds up to a fair old force on the head!

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Posted: 30 Jan 2008 22:21
by c0rvette7
SUCCESS!!! It required a couple of screw drivers... a couple of big hammers, an engine hoist and big long piece of oak to pry with.

and I even managed to leave the studs in. Thanks for the advice... I did do a lot of swearing.

Posted: 31 Jan 2008 14:30
by bmcecosse
The studs were still in ? You would have been better to remove them first!

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