siezed exhaust studs

[Anonymous]

Is it ok to heat the aluminum around the studs, to try and expand it away from them?...ive tried several ways..and still cant get them f@*#!rs out.


Thanks for input, Ian

[Anonymous]

to a certain extent

You have to be careful that you don't melt the aluminum, obviously which is hard to tell if you're not used to it. If you repeatidly (sp) heat and cool it, it might break the bond from the steel to the aluminum, if not you're resigned to drilling and using an easy out, not fun.
On mine I broke off two bolts and had to weld washers and nuts to the remainder of the bolt and take it out that way, the concentrated heating and cooling on the bolt eventually broke it free....Mike

[Anonymous]

Is it ok to heat the aluminum around the studs, to try and expand it away from them?...ive tried several ways..and still cant get them f@*#!rs out.

Yes, it is OK to heat the head to try to loosen the studs. If possible, use a propane torch instead of oxy/acetylene to heat things at a slower rate. Aluminum melts before it shows color (it does not get red hot), so it is easy to have some vanish into a puddle if you are not careful. Try heating things and then spraying penetrating oil on it. As it cools, the oil gets drawn into the threads. Try several cycles of this. The best way to grab a stud sticking out is to use a small pipe wrench, it works much better than vise grips and bites harder as you turn harder. Hitting the stud on the end with a hammer and punch can sometimes break the bond and loosen things up. Try HARD to loosen the stud with heat, etc. before getting rammy with it, if it breaks you have a much worse situation on your hands.

HTH,
Mark

[Anonymous]

Using penetrating oil after heating with a propane torch works good, I have also achieved good results using wax ( a candle ) worked into the area after heating.