Im having some trouble getting the header studs out of my head.... When putting my header back on one day I snapped one of the bolts off, and a couple of the others are bent, so my exhaust isnt getting a good seal. With it being winter here in ohio, i was going to replace them all. Anybody had to do this? I cannot get the studs to turn out..

 

with it being really cold. it only makes it harder to get them out. the auto parts stores sell some spray or squirt liquid to anti-seize bolts and stuff. you generally have to let the stuff sit for a day or so. after doing that, while your trying to spin the studs out, tap on the end of the stud with a hammer while twisting. that normally helps to. but its gonna suck no matter what. good luck

 

Use a good penatrant spray and also tap them with a hammer before you try to remove them. When I rebuilt my 1000 I had to smack every bolt on the head to get them loose. I had bolts that would not budge and after 1 lick with a hammer turned out very easily. Gotta shock em. Oh yhea good set of vise grips too.

 

I just did a gasket replacement on mine and luckily for me i could get all the studs out, but the nuts were seized to the studs. to remove the nuts i soaked everything in pb blaster (sprayed half a can into a glass jar and submerged the nuts/studs) for a few days. after that i threaded two nuts onto the cylinder head side of the stud to create a locking nut arrangement. this locking nut gave me something to hold on to while i whacked away at the seized nut. If you have a seized stud in the cyl. head and haven't broken the stud off in the head you could probably try a locking nut arrangement to get them off as well. If you DO have a broken stud in the head, you'll probably need to get that drilled/tapped. I would recommend bringing that to someone who's got experience...

 

If you don't intend on re-using any studs this is the best kind of extractors in my opinion:



I have a set by craftsman that was in the $40-50 range and they get used all the time. I've even removed hex-key style bolts with the circular heads that have stripped out.

 

thanks for the help guys, itll probably be a couple days before I work on it again as its freezing cold here in Ohio right now, -14 this morning.. But when it warms up a bit im gonna try to Pb blaster and vise grips and if that dont work Ill get some extractors! once again, thanks for the input!



as stupid as this sounds, i was actually kind of hoping i would have to take the head off so it gave me a reason to get some work done to it, cams, valves and port work, but guess that can wait awhile....even though you never know