Joined: Feb 2021 Posts: 42 Threads: 19
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Location: Northern Ireland
Car type: Ruby Mk1
I am stripping down an engine from a 1934 Ruby MK1.
The manifold nuts are off but it is not coming away from the block.
Could the studs be seized in the manifold casting?
I’m looking for advice before I get my big hammer out! I don’t want to crack anything from too much aggression.
Engine history is a complete unknown, though it is believed not to have run in the last 20 or 30 years.
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 1,922 Threads: 90
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Location: Ripon
Plenty of penetrating fluid or diesel, a little heat and a RUBBER mallet rather than a hammer would be my choice...
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Location: Salop
Car type: '28 GE Cup. '28 AD Chummy '30 RL Saloon. '34 RP Saloon. Too Many toys!
As noted by Duncan.
If as above and some considerable patience expended. I find some brutality using a piece of softwood, say a 3x2 about about a foot long resting against where the manifold pokes out in front of the block (with the dynamo removed) usually gets it moving. Be warned, I have broken a manifold doing this however. 1 out of 20 is ok for me given I must have 20 of the bloody things in the shed. The one that broke was very corroded and the engine had been uncovered outside for decades, so it was pretty stuck.
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Location: Darkest Bedfordshire
22-06-2021, 07:09 PM
(This post was last modified: 23-06-2021, 07:36 AM by Chris KC.)
Yes, the studs are probably corroded into the manifold.
First lots of penetrating lubricant; and give it time to penetrate.
There is a definite art to hammering things so that they will budge but without causing too much damage.
You can aim your blows much more precisely using a drift, which should generally be of a slightly softer material than the article you are whacking. I had the same trouble myself last week and an offcut of 1" aluminium round bar was my implement of choice.
A good place to start is the accessible bit of 'downpipe' at the front end. Lots of small taps with the hammer are usually a better and safer way to get things moving than hefty blows - jiggle it loose and try to alternate directions, not all the same way. Once a gap has opened up set aside the hammer and start prying with a pair of tyre levers or flattish screwdrivers; again, from both sides.
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 772 Threads: 26
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Location: On a hill in Wiltshire
All the above, and patience.
It might be spaced out over a day or so. Tap a bit, warm a bit, add penetrating fluid, leave, repeat.
Eventually - I think my last one took a couple of hours of continuous effort - you get the tiniest bit of movement.
If you get movement, it WILL eventually come off.
Having said that, I got impatient with that last one. Everything but the middle stud was free, but that stud allowed only about 3 mm of movement, and would not let go.
So I dropped a hacksaw blade into the gap and cut the stud off.
Result - a scarred meeting surface - which goo fixes, but I shouldn't have done it.
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has anyone tried dropping the lot, or balancing the studs and manifold - into acid or electrolysis solution for a week? I'd be interested to know whether the fluids would wick in where it was needed. Other threads show how effective thungs can be.
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Patience - oil - heat will win the day
Joined: Feb 2021 Posts: 42 Threads: 19
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Location: Northern Ireland
Car type: Ruby Mk1
23-06-2021, 06:41 PM
(This post was last modified: 23-06-2021, 06:42 PM by darcher121.)
Everything off!
Thanks for the advice.
Penetrating oil, heat and “gentle” persusion won the day.
And only 2 broken studs out of 7!
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Location: Darkest Bedfordshire
Don't spoil it all by rushing into the broken stud extraction...
