Brett San Diego

The forward most #3 cylinder exhaust side stud. Damn. It was just a matter of time, I guess, with a low mile 1978 SC that I've returned to more regular driving service since I bought it 3.5 years ago. And, I thought I had something to worry about when I removed the sump plate for the first time since I've owned the 911 and found a rocker arm "elephant foot" resting against the screen. What the... So I started removing valve covers and found all the elephant feet were in place, but the head stud fell out. Hmm, elephant foot must have been a repair from the previous owner.

After searching and reading a bit, clearly the expert opinion is to park it until fixed, so that's what I'll be doing. And adding it to the list of projects. Ugh. The list is pretty damn long already. Guess the 356 will have to wait that much longer.

Brett

Amber Gramps

Unreal. I'd cry, then make real nice with the guys around here.

theiceman

,,,Ouch

I guess I key question is how long has it been like that ... I guess now it is an engine drop and remove the offending head, cylinder and stud. Also " while your in there " ( that is abot a 5G statement ) do oyu do em all ... which means pretty well a complete tear down.

Keep us posted Brett.

Too bad i live way out here .. I miss all the good engine drop helping..

cal44

Always remember, I got a spare spot for that 356 over here in Point Loma when your projects become to much to handle. Please don't pull your own plug until the registration is signed over...........to me. Mike

tone40

I would like to watch some of the process. And offer assistance for a day.



Tony

Peter Zimmermann

That's a shame, Brett. Regarding your elephant's foot, if your car is inside the first thousand '78 VINs, possibly a little later, I'm sure that part got in there during a broken valve spring repair. We found so many broken springs in a few of those engines that we pulled the motor and did all of them! What's strange is how did an elephants foot get loose from a rocker - I wonder if the technician who did that job wondered where it went?

What's good about your car is that with such low miles it's really a straight-forward repair, and to be sure about the valve springs (as a reminder to our forum's readers this is a '78 specific issue) I would have all of them replaced while the heads are off. Yes, you can spend a lot of money (split the case halves to replace #8 bearing o-ring, install new pistons/cylinders, replace the clutch & airbox, etc.) but hopefully you won't have to.

Hester

You should have a garage party when you drop the engine. I would like to help/participate in that too.

nkgosselin

I don't remember the company but I saw in the latest Excellence and ad for a NEW tap kit that was like $200 and was designed to remove 911 head studs while still in the car.

I remember thinking that this is nice to know.

Peter Zimmermann

If you have a chance, please look this up and see if they have a web site. I tinkered with a few ideas back in the day, and knew some pretty talented people that also looked at it, and really couldn't come up with something that would work. The trouble with the repair is it has to be done in a sweet spot after a break (of course) but before any cylinder to cylinder head damage occurs.

Brett San Diego

ice: Been like that no more than 3 years and 10,000 miles. Last time I did a valve adjustment.

Cal44: Thanks, but no thanks. I'll suffer through 2 oversized paperweights in the garage for a while. I like to think of the garage as my little gold mine. At this point, financially, the garage is probably doing better than the rest of the house.

Pete Z: Appreciate the expert opinions. At this time, I'm not sure how "deep" I'm going to go once the engine is out. Got some figurin' to do. I've got a Carrera chain tensioner set and new guide rails that I've had on the shelf for a couple of years. Those will go on for sure. From searching the forums, looks like the expert thing to do is 993 studs all around. I'm inclined to do all the head studs at this time. Everything else will get a good inspection. Hopefully all of it checks out OK, but that remains to be seen.

nkgosselin: Interesting. I was thinking that with the properly designed tool (possibly something like a female easy out), one ought to be able to do this. But, is heat at the base of the stud required to break loose any threadlocker?

And to any San Diego/socal locals: I will definitely have an engine drop party with plenty of advanced notice posted. It may be a few months however... or maybe not. Depends on many things.

anyone else: Thanks for reading and commiserating.

Brett

nkgosselin

It is from stomskiracing.com

"indexes off the exhaust port,(by using one of the various sized included port bushings) secures to the opposite stud and allows you to drill out, tap and replace the stud dead on every time." Includes LH drill bits, tap extension, guides and jigs. $268. (410) 571 - 9779

Ad from August 2008 Excellence page 118. The item is not yet featured on their website.

Hope this helps. If you are not up to it, maybe if you bought the tool and let your shop keep it they might be hook you up some how.

theiceman

That sounds like an exhaust stud removal kit, not a head stud !

Peter Zimmermann

That's the impression that I get, also...

We made a jig for exhaust flange studs back in the late '70s when we started having to deal with thermal reactors, and that's what this tool sounds like...

g-50cab

993 or Supertech head studs - and yes you need a fair amount of heat to break the loctite. Propane did not do it for me although MAPP did.