Thread: Removing Head - difficult bolt

Have you tried the 2 nut`s locked on together trick for removing studs
I think you will find that goes into the timing cover

its a stud....
Do as Rangieman suggested or use a stud extractor socket, you will find a kit of 4 sockets pretty cheap to buy from your local tool shop and its a useful bit of kit

Regards
Daz

Thanks all, will get the stud extractor kit!

At the moment I'm about 50% confident I can do this job. The car's only worth about $2k max on the market given the hail damage and ks, so wasn't going to pay someone twice that to do the job. And if it goes pear-shaped, I might be in the market for a V8 D3, which wouldn't be a bad outcome in my books

I tried to get this little bludger out also there is not enough thread to use 2 nuts unless you grind one down, I ended up using vicegrips on the thread that was showing so now i need another stud or cap screw when i get around to fitting the head.
I removed it because i blamed it for the head not coming off which turned out to be the pin thru the Rh chain guide was the culprit, dopey me.

I don't think this stud has enough room to be fitted once the head is sitting back down, you might need to check this on your 10p as it looks like it will be a struggle on my 15p, something to check before hand, i will just leave it loose in the head as i refit then screw it home.

It most definitely goes into the timing cover.
And Pinelli if I can do it, you'll be fine mate.
From memory I just used vice grips as I was putting a new timing cover in.

Another trick is to get the correct fitting nut, then cut a verticle line through one side, thread on, then use vise grips on the nut - with the cut in the side of the nut it allows the nut to "squeeze" onto the threads thus saving the stud.

Or , just lift the head straight up, I've never had to remove one to r and r a head. It also helps with aligning the head when replacing

Well, the head is now off in the longest head gasket job in the world (something like 4 months since I parked the Disco in the garage). I managed to source two narrow nuts to remove that stud on the front of the block, and and it came off quite neatly. I struggle to see how the head can be removed with it in, as lifting it straight up, it meets the top of the firewall. Once the stud was out, the head lifted up a couple of centimetres, and then we brought it forward.

No obvious damage to the head, block or gasket, except that the gasket seems have separated into layers in the middle. Could this be the cause of the gas leaks into the coolant? Otherwise it all looks pretty straight. Cam carrier is off, cam is off, injectors & lifters are about to come out tonight or tomorrow night. I'll have it to the engineers for testing in the next week, which brings up the next question.

How carefully do I need to treat the head while it's off the engine? If I wrap it in a towel and place it in the boot of of the car, and lay it on its side, will that be okay? How delicate is the mating surface of the head?