PINTO CAR CLUB of AMERICA
Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: waldo786 on July 21, 2013, 09:37:30 PM
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Well, I got the right socket and have the head bolts removed. Only problem is now I'm having trouble getting the head off the car. It seems stuck and figure it could be for a few reasons. One is I didn't have it at top dead center so not sure if that could be the problem. Other is that it is just the gasket sticking, but I don't want to damage the surfaces by sticking something in there and scoring it. The other was that I saw in the ranger forums someone had a write up in there about removing the crank pulley before pulling the head, but not sure why that would make a difference. Although now that my car is all torn apart and I want the crank pulley because of the A/C, I can't do the trick where you turn the engine over. Doh! Hindsight is always 20/20 vision. Although this also my first time diving this deep into an engine and it is nice to be able to use the wagon as a bit of practice as well.
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Sure you didn't miss a bolt?? it's not that hard to do, but depending on the gasket it could be just stuck, should be able to pry up gently on a corner and it should let go.
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I've only torn apart two engines this far; one was going through a rebuild and the other at a JY, so take this with a grain of salt, but couldn't you just take a rubber mallet to give it a little encouragement? The 2.3 is a non-interference engine, after all, so it not being at TDC shouldn't matter. If you don't want to do that, try using a few plastic putty knives to pry into the head/block mating surfaces at multiple locations to break the seal. Whatever you decide, good luck!
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Block of wood and a whack from a decent sized hammer, works every time. :) You'll def want to find TDC before you reassemble, though. :)
I try to leave the intake manifold on 4 cylinders to use as leverage, then take it off on the bench after the head is off. Sometimes I forget, and resort back to the wood block method.
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Thank you all for your suggestions! I was going to use a rubber mallet, but the car is here at my parents and I'm house sitting so the one I have is at my house. The block of wood idea sounds good too, I think I have wood and I know there's a regular hammer here. Otherwise I can always go out and get some putty knives - I read people use those anyway to scrape off any remaining gasket so it doesn't score the head. Thanks again! Will repost once I get this thing off. I never thought I'd have this much of a time with it, but I'm certainly learning a lot thanks to everyone here!
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I've used dead-blow hammers, wood & a mini-sledge & prybars to remove them. When they are stuck, they are stuck & it's normal to have to use force.
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Good news, got the head off this evening. Man that thing is heavy!
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THE HEAD ON A 2.3 PINTO IS HALF THE CARS WEIGHT!!! OR AT LEAST IT FEELS THAT WAY!!!