I’m in the unfortunate position of having a seized engine in my 74 Daimler Double-Six VDP. Carb engine that’s not run since the mid eighties but I could turn with spanner on pulley until about 4 years ago.
I have a spare HE engine (83?) which is no use to me as I’ve heard you can’t just bolt the carb-version inlet manifolds etc onto it. IE I could’ve moved everything from my original block to the HE block but this won’t work…
So I’ve decided to strip the HE to familiarise myself with the process before dismantling the original.
Last night I was examining the camshaft caps after finding an old thread on here which was all about locked cams on rebuilt engines due to the caps being put back on in wrong positions.
Anyway as someone pointed out on that thread the caps should all be marked and they were. Numbers 1-7 from front to back and the number is stamped on the outside of each cap so you know which is left and which is right
NB. For the above pictures I am using right and left as viewed from driving position. However for my own purposes I’m marking the components the other was round as I’m working on the engine from the front
The best way to determine which cap goes where and in what direction is to bolt and torque down ONE cap at a time, you should be able to turn the camshaft by hand, without valves of course.
I had to do this as the shop that cleaned my heads mixed up all 14 caps.
BTW my A head has all the caps in one direction the numbers on the top are read from the front and the stamped number is on the exhaust side, but the B head the numbers on top all mixed up and the stamped number on ONE cap only is on the intake side.
So the heads came off the HE no problem. A little tapping on each end with wooden blocks then stuck carboard packers in to stop it slipping back down and then did same at other end. This engine was not in vehicle so had good access all round.
Onto my carb engine which is in car. Everything is off the heads and they are ready to lift but you can only really tap the front end. I’d rather treat it equally all round.
I’ve been told jack-up plate will warp head so don’t consider using one. Not sure if this advice is good.
I’ve decided to remove all the studs instead and the heads should have nothing connecting them to the block other than the head gasket.
I’ve got the 3/8" outer studs out no problem by locking two nuts on them and winding out. Not managed on the 3/8" inner studs (which are much shorter) as there doesn’t seem to be enough stud protruding above the head to lock two nuts on.
What about trying with a single nut staked on by deforming top thread(s)?
I have a full set of good studs from the HE if the originals are damaged by the staking…
I think you’ll be extremely lucky to get the inner 3/8” studs out! I think if you can get all the larger studs out without moving the head, you should go and by a lottery ticket ! But best of luck!
Best start is to pour penetrating oil of some kind down the studs. Leave it for a few days.
Once you can get the head to move, if the rest of the studs are as good as the one in your photo, it SHOULD lift off. If you tap it up gently under the tappet block flange at the front, you can tell if it’s solid or not by the sound. You should also see it lift slightly? If so, if exhaust manifolds are still fitted see if by lifting them the head rocks from side to side? If it does then you can carefully get a thin wide blade in between the head face and the gasket? DONT put it between the gasket and the block face!
Head faces can be skimmed. Block faces? Not unless you take out and completely strip engine out.
This is all good in theory but you’ll probably need to use a head puller.
I was keen to use a head puller but someone who says they have rebuilt numerous V12s says it will ruin the head. As in warp it beyond the scope for skimming. What are your thoughts on that?
Regarding the studs. I don’t think I’ll have problems with the inner 3/8"studs. One came out the HE block with its nut (instead of nut coming off the stud) and they aren’t in the water jacket so shouldn’t be corroded.
I am expecting problems with the 7/16" studs tho - as they are in the water jacket.
Well I got some of the 7/16" studs out and more of the outer 3/8" ones. 10 down 42 to go…
on the inner 7/16" studs spanner-access is very limited so you only get a fraction of a turn before you need to unlock your locked nuts to wind the bottom one back a fraction then tighten top one back down and repeat. One the nuts start to clear the recess in the casting you can speed the process up a little by using an open-ended spanner on the bottom nut.
I had to grind down my ring-spanner so it wasn’t as tall as the nut I was applying it to. The nuts were made from one acorn-nut with top cut off then cut again. It saved me ordering some thin nuts.
Am not going to get too excited about the progress as the 4 thick studs that came out are the end ones which aren’t in the water-jacket afaik. Once I get out one of those I think I’ll feel like real progress has been made.
The inner 3/8" studs haven’t budged yet and I think that’s attrbutable to the lack of stud available and the fact I’m using wrong spanner on bottom nut. I will now grind down a 9/16" ring-spanner to get better purchase
You’ve been lucky so far - hope it Continues for you!
The head puller I have, I’ve I’ve ysed about 30 times. My machinists have never told me a head was too warped to re face!
If you pull it up evenly there’s no reason why it should warp the head.
What year is the engine from ? Did it always have antifreeze ?
It’s a 74 but has been off road since 86. I don’t know about the antifreeze as I didn’t own it when it was running. The expansion tank is completely rusted-out tho if that’s anything to go by.
That’s good to know about the tool. I was surprised when I was told it would warp the head but you don’t know who to believe when you get conflicting opinions.
So the studs are starting to come out. I’m posting in detail on another forum (as there are many interested members) but here it’s an abridged version as I think I’ve got a small audience.
In short I’ve got all the outer 3/8" studs out without harming them. The inner 3/8" studs won’t budge as I can’t get sufficient purchase on them to use locking-nut trick.
Similar situation with the 7/16" studs so I poured full-fat Coke into the wells in the casting around the inner ones. Next day I welded a nut to one of those studs and it came out looking black and sticky. A wipe with a rag revealed a corroded but clean stud. Surely the Coke couldn’t have done that in less than a day…
I then tried same on one of the outer 7/16" studs. They don’t have a well in the casting round them so little or no Coke found it’s way past them I figure. I couldn’t get that one out. It was twisting but the spanner couldn’t go any further due to inner-wing. So I need a socket and extension on that I think.
That was me done with the carb engine for the night. I then moved over to the HE and got all the studs from one bank out by locking two nuts on then holding the spanners at 180 degrees and twisting back and forth. This gave a satisfying crack on each stud and out that came
So that’s the first head off. The details and the journey don’t seem as important once you get there but I can flesh it out if anyone is curious.
Basically I got 8 of the water-jacket studs out and snapped the other 2. The head lifted off very easily. Also the 6 inner 3/8" studs were still in place.
I reckon you can leave 16 of the studs where they are and just take out the middle 10.
