blade7

If I have the cylinders of my spare block plated I'll have to remove all the studs etc first, do the collet type removers/installers made by Hydramec / sold by Snap-on always manage to remove the studs ?

67King

You have to heat them up. I throw the whole block in an oven for a while, then they all just come out easily

Tom M'Guinn

Oven? Do you own a pizza shop or something?


There's no guarantee even with the snap-on collets, but they give you the best chance from what I've seen and usually work. Soak the wells with a good penetrant. Use a large T-bar to crank on the studs so you don't side load them (the bigger the better), and use a map gas flame on the block down where the threads are to break the absurd amount of red Loctite used by the factory -- assuming you don't have a pizza oven that is... (be sure to dry out any penetrant first so as not to catch that on fire...). If the block is on a stand, it helps to have a helper brace things -- or remove them while the motor is still in the car.

blade7

I don't have a suitable oven . Thanks Tom, haven't bought the collet type remover yet, not sure I will if there's a chance it wont do the job. Block is on a stand.

67King

Nope, the old oven from when I renovated our kitchen. I kept it for powder coating.

Cheburator

I had to use an oven on my block. 6 of the studs would not budge at all, even with a massive pipe wrench. A friend who powdercoats wheels stepped in and allowed me to "borrow" his oven. Once the block was heated to 130C and the studs gently tapped with a mallet, they came out. Much preferred working on the 928 where Porsche switched to bolts...

Alex

lejams

I know these can be a bear and I'm sure some may require heat, but on a 968 block I applied WD40 a couple nights in a row letting them sit about 48 hours. Triple nutted them and they eased out with about a 18" breaker bar without a much trouble. I was surprised how easy they came out. Tom's T-bar is a safer bet though.

blade7

This is what I'll try first of all. Did you take the crank girdle and waterpump studs out too ?

LUCKY DAVE

Cyanoacrylate adhesives (Loctite) lose essentially all strength at + - 300 F.

lejams

Yes took them all out. I had a torch ready while removing everything, just didn't have to use it. Doesn't mean it will go that all the time...

URG8RB8

Does ARP sell the girdle studs?

Willard Bridgham 3

PB Blaster for 48 hrs did the trick for me.

cruise98

I have always had to use heat. The exhaust side is usually easier than the intake. The snap on stud remover works, but you can double nut them as well. Have fun! If you are having it Nikasil plated, all of the galley plugs and locating pins/dowels have to come out as well.

Tom M'Guinn

A long time ago, Garrity held a 944 engine building class and had maybe 6 block cores on stands. My collet/t-bar/torch approach came from that class, but the interesting part was how differently all of the studs came out. If memory serves, we got them all out without pulling any threads, but some came out with very little effort and some took a ton of heat and force and seemed like they were never coming out. They all appeared original-factory installed, but the amount of red Loctite also varied (from plenty to way too much). There was no pattern we could figure -- seemed fairly random as to which were easy and which were a big pain.

Raceware sells girdle bolts specifically for the 944 block. Haven't seen that from ARP, but maybe they have something. Engine Builders Supply might be worth a call on that.

URG8RB8

Tom:

That story reminds me of the oil filter housing! Must be attributed to how much Loktite is applied and what exact method they used to apply it.

If the Loktite is applied liberally and on two clean surfaces WD-40 and even the Better PB Blaster will have zero effect, heat must be applied to break the bond. Loktite does sell a proprietary release fluid that is quite expensive and doesn't always work either.