Head studs stuck
 

Hi all, I have an early sandcast case that I will need to send to the machine shop before the build. It had all 24 steel studs in it and 10 of them I got removed. The last 14 will not budge. I tried the jamming two nuts together method, using an impact, heating the case for 10 min with propane and have now welded a nut to the end and tried both the impact and a long wrench. Studs will not budge. Any other ideas? Should I try cutting them off, drilling a small hole down the center?
Thanks!

I wouldn't cut them.
More stud to grab onto is better.
If it is going to the machine shop anyway, let them have a crack at it.

Try some good hits on the studs with a hammer like your trying to drive them into the case this should break them free.

Conspicuously absent from the list of things you've tried is soaking them in PB Blaster or some other penetrating oil.

JMHO,........Propane will not get the case anywhere near hot enough to release the threadlocker holding the studs. You need at least a Mapp Gas cylinder on there to get sufficient heat hue to the 'heat-sink' effect that the case provides.

If its not hot enough, you place a lot of stress on the studs and run a far higher risk of breakage.

Hopefully someone didn't use jbweld epoxy glue on the stud and case threads instead of red loctite.
Try a cylinder of MAP gas instead of propane to heat around the stud. It comes in a yellow cylinder instead of blue for propane and it burns hotter.

A good stud remover tool will grip it better with greater surface area than double nutting two 17mm wrench size nuts.
I bought this stud remover set off ebay and used the 10mm one to remove the head studs in my motor and used the 8mm one for all the other studs in the heads.
They are very nicely made and come in a nice molded case.
Bikemaster Stud Removal Sockets 21 S04 15 1648 | eBay

woops.. now i see Steve was suggesting the same stuff while I was writing this post.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did soak them with pb blaster. I also welded nuts onto 2 of the studs so the impact wrench would have a good nut to work on. I will try the MAP gas as well as tapping them in to loosen the grip. I think these are the original steel studs for the case, not sure if the factory used locktite.
Thanks!

I had read several machinist forums where they were dealing with removing studs using heat, and one tip kept coming up.....beeswax. So we tried it when removing the brittle Dilivar studs in my SC in the form of Berts Bees lip balm. Heated the case around the stud to about 325F as per the pyrometer and then touched the chap stik like balm to the base of the stud and it flowed right in and they came out, however, we had to keep the heat on all the way until they were out. This was using the Snap-on stud tool and giving it few "raps" on the end with a hammer.

And the minty aroma of success couldn't be beat.

I used a big pipe wrench to get all the head studs out of my 3.2L case. It destroyed the threads but I was replacing them with ARP studs anyway.

So I trued heating with MAP, welding a nut on the end and using an impact angle a long socket wrench. No luck. Eve tried the tapping the stud and beeswax. Still stuck. I think it will be the machine shop's job.
Thanks for the help!

here is my vid of removing Dilavar studs from my P car

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOnsDgmBvLs

The cheat is the key.

I did mine this year and it took almost 1.5-2 mins of map gas heat before they would budge... I used a small pipe wrench for removal...

Be patient and keep at it. I just did this job and I can say you want to avoid at all costs cutting the stud and then trying to drill out.
Instead, every night and I mean every night, heat, beeswax is good too. Heat around the stud not on it. I used regular butane flame and would let heat for 5minutes solid. I also used a special socket tool. I believe Titan is the brand but check on of my earlier threads and timmy2's recommendation for the tool. I think it cost about $20.00 with shipping n tax. Heat it the key. Heat and heat some more. Then try and see if it budges. They will eventually give. It's a battle. You against them. You will win. Just keep at it every night. When you throw in the towel go ahead and soak with pb blaster overnight until your next attempt. Once you get one tough one free, you get a feel for how hard you can crank on those studs to get them to break free.
Good luck. You will get it. Heat is your friend.
Gary

I replaced my lower studs (Dilivar) during my rebuild last winter. I used a small tip on my oxy/acetylene torch ( easy on the oxy) to heat the area around the studs. Eights studs were a piece of cake, and of course, four were really trouble. Good ol' heat was the answer to get success with them. A MAP torch may not be enough heat if you have some really stuck ones. For sure, you do not want to snap them off so easy on the torque. A mixture of acetone and ATF fluid is a wonder for penetrating oil tough ones. Good luck.

PB Blaster soaking for a couple of days and MAP gas plus Snap On (CG500) stud remover worked on all of mine. After removal I chased the threads with a new tap then washed and blew out each hole, ARP SS studs were used. I love it and actually will be doing this again on another engine I plan to rebuild.

I would caution against using a regular cutting tap when chasing these threads. Someone did that to my case, and I found that my ARP studs were a tad loose fitting for my liking. What is recommended is a "Forming Tap" which you can get from ARP as well.

I have a 67 case in the shop at the moment with two head studs that absolutely will not come out. i have to cut the studs and drill out to the minor diameter of the threads and attempt to pull the threads out.