The Ford Barn - View Single Post

drolston · 09-30-2016, 01:16 PM

An earlier post of mine asked for advice on how to minimize broken head bolts. Response referenced:

http://fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168354

Seemed like good advice. Went out and bought a Ryobi 18 volt impact wrench. I went after the driver side head with impact wrench on full speed and a full power battery, and proceeded to wring off 6 bolts.

The part of that advice that I missed was "slow and easy." Did the passenger side head using the middle wrench power setting, taking a second or two tightening, followed by three or four seconds untightening. All head bolts came out intact. Had to use full power on three, again alternating in and out in short bursts.

So, it seems that "slow and easy" is a very important bit of wisdom.

Passenger side head had two head gaskets; otherwise looks fine. What reason would someone have had to use two gaskets? Warped head?

Good news: the block looks great; no visible cracks. On to the machine shop for broken stud removal and stroker kit.

09-30-2016, 01:16 PM	#1
drolston Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Williamsburg, VA Posts: 1,627	Head bolts lessons learned An earlier post of mine asked for advice on how to minimize broken head bolts. Response referenced: http://fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168354 Seemed like good advice. Went out and bought a Ryobi 18 volt impact wrench. I went after the driver side head with impact wrench on full speed and a full power battery, and proceeded to wring off 6 bolts. The part of that advice that I missed was "slow and easy." Did the passenger side head using the middle wrench power setting, taking a second or two tightening, followed by three or four seconds untightening. All head bolts came out intact. Had to use full power on three, again alternating in and out in short bursts. So, it seems that "slow and easy" is a very important bit of wisdom. Passenger side head had two head gaskets; otherwise looks fine. What reason would someone have had to use two gaskets? Warped head? Good news: the block looks great; no visible cracks. On to the machine shop for broken stud removal and stroker kit.