Packard Forum Index » General

Throughout this summer, almost everything on the block came apart very well. The break-down process on this engine was amazingly smooth for almost 80 year-old steel. Many of the bolts responded to wrenches without any special treatment. The big parts, such as the crank and cam, are now resting in Fluid Film, awaiting what I can learn via research over the course of the winter. The next major challenge is the head studs. These won't budge for anything...probably cooked into the block during its service life, not to mention 60 years of abandoned rust. I see several tips online, including magic lubricants and welding the nuts back on so you can apply torque. Does anyone here have a best practice tip for their flat head Packards?

I initially tried welded nuts, etc. and didn't have very good results. I settled on soaking for several days in lubricant (PB Blaster) and then used a stud remover. I did break off a total of six out of 23, and given the issues the machine shop had getting the remmnants out, I don't think they would have been salvageable!

The stud remover I used (similar style shown in the picture) is nice because you can feel if the stud is turning in the hole or just twisting off. I did break five with this tool, but I was able to gently coax several others out that wanted to break. I also gave each stud several hard raps with a hammer after each application of lubricant and just prior to attempting to remove.

Edit: Photo courtesy of Dave Czirr (Owen_Dyneto) via my project blog.

Good luck!

Attach file:

---

  (25.79 KB)

Thanks for the tip. This is another cool tool I had not seen before.
If this block ever goes in for refurbishing, I do expect some special machining. The exhaust/intake assembly studs were rotted away and broke immediately. I am guessing some TLC for an old block like this would run a couple thousand...? Anyone had to pay for that work before?