Started to disassemble my 97 Explorer block last week. The the five in long, 5/16 th stud that holds the timing cover and water pump decided to be a pita. One of the ones with the long 5/16 stud section, the head in the middle and the 3/8 stud on the end for the brackets.
Put the engine on the stand after moving the 454 to the shed last week.
Tried to pull the water pump and timing cover Tues. Got all but two bolts.
Rounded the corners off the heads with a 12 pt. Then rounded them again with a 6 pt.
Completed the head rounding process with vice grips!
Got out my torch Thurs nite. Heated both bolts red hot and they did not budge at all. Used channel locks and vice grips.
Snapped the head off the pass side. Had to grind the head off the driver side.
Tried tapping the cover off over the bolts. Broke the cover.
Took the bandsaw and cut the holes out of the cover. Removed cover. Cant put it on ebay now.
Friday night I heated the remaining 2 in portion of the bolts to red hot with the torch. The pass side came loose. Driver side broke about 1/4 in from the front of the engine.
Sat, heated the nub to red hot, hammered it, and it still did not come out. Got out more tools, ground the nub flat, and center punched.
Took the left hand drill bits and got a nice 1/8 in hole through the bolt. That size easy out did not budge the bolt. Drilled the hole to 1/4 in deep in the bolt. Bolt did not budge with the larger 1/4 in easy out.
But, imagine this, the easy out broke off about a quarter inch down the hole.
Hit the easy out with the 1/8 left hand drill and it drilled a 3/8 deep hole. What will turn the easy out out? A small regular tap, you say!
It did start some threads before it broke.
Now we have broke tap stuck in the broke easy out stuck in the broke bolt. I am getting concerned, need more Corona Lite.
Trip to Lowes, and got a half dozen Dremel diamond point engraving tips!
An hour or two of careful grinding, destroying the Dremel points, and we have the tap back out. Wow! Success!
Another hour of grinding, and we are down the hole a half inch into the bolt.
So now we start with the pin punch to break the sides of the bolt down. Broke the tip off the pin punch.
Ground it to a chisel point and kept hammering.
So now we have most of the easy out ground to dust, and the bolt shell tapped loose.
With the last remaining pin punch I tapped the tip of the easy out through the bolt and into the bottom of the hole.
Tapped out the last of the bolt shell and pulled the easy out from the hole with a dental pick. Ran a tap in the hole, seems to be threads left.
Not sure if I need a helicoil or not yet. Took nearly a whole six pack over the course of the week.
Probably use anti sieze when I reassemble it.
Put the engine on the stand after moving the 454 to the shed last week.
Tried to pull the water pump and timing cover Tues. Got all but two bolts.
Rounded the corners off the heads with a 12 pt. Then rounded them again with a 6 pt.
Completed the head rounding process with vice grips!
Got out my torch Thurs nite. Heated both bolts red hot and they did not budge at all. Used channel locks and vice grips.
Snapped the head off the pass side. Had to grind the head off the driver side.
Tried tapping the cover off over the bolts. Broke the cover.
Took the bandsaw and cut the holes out of the cover. Removed cover. Cant put it on ebay now.
Friday night I heated the remaining 2 in portion of the bolts to red hot with the torch. The pass side came loose. Driver side broke about 1/4 in from the front of the engine.
Sat, heated the nub to red hot, hammered it, and it still did not come out. Got out more tools, ground the nub flat, and center punched.
Took the left hand drill bits and got a nice 1/8 in hole through the bolt. That size easy out did not budge the bolt. Drilled the hole to 1/4 in deep in the bolt. Bolt did not budge with the larger 1/4 in easy out.
But, imagine this, the easy out broke off about a quarter inch down the hole.
Hit the easy out with the 1/8 left hand drill and it drilled a 3/8 deep hole. What will turn the easy out out? A small regular tap, you say!
It did start some threads before it broke.
Now we have broke tap stuck in the broke easy out stuck in the broke bolt. I am getting concerned, need more Corona Lite.
Trip to Lowes, and got a half dozen Dremel diamond point engraving tips!
An hour or two of careful grinding, destroying the Dremel points, and we have the tap back out. Wow! Success!
Another hour of grinding, and we are down the hole a half inch into the bolt.
So now we start with the pin punch to break the sides of the bolt down. Broke the tip off the pin punch.
Ground it to a chisel point and kept hammering.
So now we have most of the easy out ground to dust, and the bolt shell tapped loose.
With the last remaining pin punch I tapped the tip of the easy out through the bolt and into the bottom of the hole.
Tapped out the last of the bolt shell and pulled the easy out from the hole with a dental pick. Ran a tap in the hole, seems to be threads left.
Not sure if I need a helicoil or not yet. Took nearly a whole six pack over the course of the week.
Probably use anti sieze when I reassemble it.