cylinder head removal

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laverdaas1
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2015 6:23 am
Your car is a: 124AS 1968

cylinder head removal

Post by laverdaas1 »

hi there,

as expected, i'm stuck with a stubborn head that wont let itself being lifted easily. As i suspect this is a very common issue i've searched the forum all and across but havent found the right thread (haven't dug deep enough probably), so i'm seeking help from anyone who has words of wisdom for me here.

Thanks

in searching the web i found this method: push on pistons 1 and 4 at TDC through the plugs holes with a threaded bar. Has anyone tried it?
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riverdadd
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Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2014 6:16 am
Your car is a: 1975 Fiat Spider 1977 Alfa Spider

Re: cylinder head removal

Post by riverdadd »

did u get it unstuck? an old trick that is used to loosen a stubborn crank nut is to feed a length of rope into the cylinder and then crank over the piston until it stops. this "locks " motor. in theory u could use this to "pop the head loose. take all bolts off and feed #1 and #4 cylinders with rope. dont use poly rope. and be sure to leave a length outside of head to retrieve rope from cylinder. conversely u could feed cyl # 2 +3 as the are on the same stroke as well. then either turn motor via crank nut, or put car in a high gear and rock it until head pops off.

hope it helps

riverdadd
Nut124
Posts: 748
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2017 6:39 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider 1800

Re: cylinder head removal

Post by Nut124 »

I seem to recall that there is spot in the front corner of the head where the gasket does not come all the way to the edge. Seems like a large flat screw driver tip could be used there to carefully pry the head loose.

I would not mess with the plug threads.

Nut 124
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riverdadd
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Posts: 206
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2014 6:16 am
Your car is a: 1975 Fiat Spider 1977 Alfa Spider

Re: cylinder head removal

Post by riverdadd »

X2 on plug threads.... they are only original once, I never had good luck with rethreading those "coil" type inserts and having a lasting repair
Shadoobie
Posts: 113
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 10:07 pm
Your car is a: 1979 Pininfarina Spider 2000

Re: cylinder head removal

Post by Shadoobie »

My head was also very stubborn the first time I removed it. I eventually worked it off by tapping it around the sides with a rubber mallet while pulling on the coolant pipe over cylinder 4.
laverdaas1
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2015 6:23 am
Your car is a: 124AS 1968

Re: cylinder head removal

Post by laverdaas1 »

thanks for your comments. I eventually made it by fabricating a rectangular frame with some 2x3cm iron tubes that i then made sitting on the head studs - left midway to gain some clearance - and using two threaded studs that were pulling from cyl 2 and 3 plug holes: came out as butter.
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