Head removal

Zachary Hoyt · Feb 14, 2010

This is a terribly ignorant question, I'm sorry to say, but I guess I have to start somewhere if I'm going to learn these things. I have removed the valve cover from the stuck H engine and the valve train looks great, oily but clean. I have removed the head bolts and the thermostat housing and other things that looked like they could get in the way and i am wondering if I need to remove the valve train before pulling the head and what is a good way to get the head to separate from the block without damaging either. Any advice will be much appreciated. I've never gotten to go inside an engine before, so I have a lot to learn.
Zach

Andrew Z · Feb 14, 2010

Zach, Just hit it with a nylon hammer or if you dont have one use a block of wood and hammer. Just make sure you have the wood in between the hammer and the head. They generally do not come off real hard at all. It easier if there is 2 people to lift it off but you can do it alone if you dont have a helper around.

Andrew

glennster · Feb 14, 2010

zack, i'd pull the rocker shaft and pushrods. mark the pushrods so they go back in the same hole if you plan on re-using them. do the same also for the lifters. you want them to run on the same lobes of the cam they have been running on.

ScottyHOMeY · Feb 14, 2010

Glennster's thoughts on the rocker and push rods are good, but they aren't restricting movement of your head. The valves are connectedquite nicely to the head, too, and aren't restricting a thing. A couple of good bumps on the side of the head from different angles with a rawhide or plastic/rubber-faced hammer, or a hammer against a wood block as Andrew suggested will generally break it loose. That failing (and this takes a good eye and some care), if you can discern the gap between the upper and lower faces of the head gasket, you can smartly tap a chisel into that gap at different points along the seam to loosen things up and maybe break it loose.

Don't get carried away with it. Always keep in mind the two Hammer Rules:

#1) Hit with progressively bigger hammers until you break something, then back down one size;

#2) If it can't be fixed with a hammer you have an electrical problem.

old · Feb 14, 2010

Head like that can /will be pains and if done wrong can end up costing big $$ to fix a mistake. You can remove it with out doing any thing with the rocker arms etc but if you get that stuff out of the way you better off. Now for the old school things. Remove the rocker arm assembly. Then DO NOT touch the push rods till you get a piece of card board. Mark on the card board front and back and poke holes in it for the push rods. and also mark #1, #2, #3, and #4 and put those push rods in order of where they cam out so as to keep the wear factor the same. Now if you want more sort of person to person help drop me an e-mail and I'll give you my phone number which I have done many times and I talk to a good number of Y-T people that way

Nebraska Cowman · Feb 15, 2010

There is a line and a fitting in the back side of the head you will have to remove. Once you get everything loose gravity should be your only enemy.

GordoSD · Feb 15, 2010

Zach. Which manuals do you have? The best investment you can make right now is to buy one of the DVD/Video engine teardown discs from this site.

Gordo

neblinc · Feb 15, 2010

The head needs to come straight up when you get it loose.
Lots of pics here
The Farmall H
Page 1 has head removal pics I think.

Randy

Hendrik · Feb 15, 2010

Zachary. I have found that a head can be a bear to remove. The main culprit in my case was the carbon/gunk build up around the head bolts. There is quite a lot of play between the bolts and the holes, but the gunk is not easily removed. Soak liberally with penetrating oil. My 2c.
HTH, Hendrik

Zachary Hoyt · Feb 15, 2010

Thank you all very much. I left everything how it was and used the hammer and wood block to tap on the head. It came off quite easily, just a little bit of fidgeting to lift it straight up. I labeled the lifters 1-8 with masking tape flags. I've been contacted by somebody on Craigslist who wants the block, so I don't think I'll be putting this engine back together. For a neophyte such as I it is quite interesting to see how all of the parts fit together and function. Thanks again for all of the advice.
Zach

Head removal

Zachary Hoyt

Well-known Member

Andrew Z

Well-known Member

glennster

Well-known Member

ScottyHOMeY

Well-known Member

old

Well-known Member

Nebraska Cowman

Well-known Member

GordoSD

Well-known Member

neblinc

Member

Hendrik

Member

Zachary Hoyt

Well-known Member

Similar threads