I'm just curious. On most Ts that I've worked on, you can pull all the head bolts out except the two in the back, as they won't clear the firewall. You have to hold them partway out and then you can get the head off.
My question is: If you use studs instead of bolts, can you still get the head off completely? Will it clear the firewall?
No, you need to install and remove the rear two studs just as you would the bolts. Use two jam nuts on the top of the studs, seat the studs with the head in place and then remove the jam nuts and tighten the head. A little awkward but no big deal and you still have some confidence that the studs are making full contact in the block.
On mine with studs, I run a "jam" nut on the rear ones then treat them just like you do the bolts.
Walt,
Thanks for you response. That answered my question!
Are you able to tilt the head up in the front in order to clear the other studs in the block after the two have been removed? If so, will this work on all years of T? It doesn't seem to me that if you pull the back two and then leave the other studs in place, that you could pull off the head with the block in place. Also, what would be wrong with using studs for all but the two rear bolts since you need to pull them anyway?
Ricks, tell us more about how you do it.
Norm
I've seen this conversation numerous times and I only have to leave one bolt near the firewall in the head.
Am I just lucky?
John,
Those pesky headbolts by the firewall are an abomination, that's why Ford made 15 million sets of them. You see only a few folks have been able to figure out how to remove them and pull the head. Most folks just stare in agony and cry for help!
Ted
I use spring type clothespins to hold the back two up.
Ricks uses a Fronty head so I'm not sure how his stud ideas apply to a stock model T.
Use shorter studs, Jerry, like they do on the Moddle A.
When you're torquing a steel bolt into a cast iron block, you're tearing at the threads, even before you get full engagement of all threads.
When you snug a stud into a block, you run it in by hand until all threads are engaged, and the only strain is across all the threads as you torque a nut on the far end.
Studs work just as well with a flat head as with an overhead valve setup. Full depth of thread contact in the block and no concern about the bolt bottoming out causing false torque readings. Certainly not Henry's idea on a T but easy to implement if you have the desire. If you are somewhat concerned about the strength of the threads in the block and don't want to use helicoils the studs can help ensure you get full use of the threads in the block.
Well yes Ralph, of course. The question was however, even with the back two studs removed, you still must pull the head straight up to get it off the remaining studs. Meaning, the firewall is just as "in the way" as it was when you had the two rear studs in place. With regard to your car, I was stating that, since you use a Fronty, perhaps you don't have those issues. Your firewall would be cut away sufficiently to clear the higher head & the high cover. When the Fronty cover is removed you now have a lot of space to raise the head up without hitting the firewall, or so I suppose. I should have been more clear perhaps.
While I could have removed all the studs by using jam nuts, this time I removed the firewall. I ended up taking the studs out, anyhow. I'll take some pix when I get the head back from refurb.