Well it happened. Got the head back on my 85 XJ6 , had it all cleaned up, faced and ready to go.

New gasket , Hylomar and copper-eze on the studs. Lowered down, pinched the dome nuts up and torqued them down. Checked and double checked the torque settings, 54lb/ft as per the book. thought it was a bit light so checked with a couple of trusted repairers YEP 54 is it.

All torqued down --- now i will have one last check ---BANG number 2 , last wet stud at the back exhaust side lets go , at the base.

BUGGER!!!. Corroded. All the others are holding. What to do????

1. Start again --- replace ALL the studs if I can get them out
2. Take the head off --- get an insert placed in the top of the block and use a short stud.
OR
how about this ---- cut the end off the broken stud, cut a 7/16 UNC thread into it, use a S/Steel plate, washer and nut and wind it up to underneath the deck of the block. I can access through the core plug hole.

Still uses the dome nut ---- looks standard.

Anyone tried this in this situation??---- will it work?? --- has it worked??

I dry fitted it and it seems to work, all the other studs are OK probably just OK.

Bodgey yes --- but I really dont want to go through all the hassle and cost of starting over.

Cheers Mike

 

Been there a few times, and usually when undoing them.

I went the correct way, as a rebuild was eminent in those cases.

I believe, you gotta do what you gotta do. Bodgy does not come into it IF it works.

I have seen inserts in the top deck of the S2 engines a few times, and no ill affects apparent. The S3 with the "split deck" may not be so forgiving.

A Bugga which ever way you look at it.

I would be SERIOUSLY worried about the other studs.

 

Been there, oh so many times. But, usually on flat head engines. Much easier to deal with!!!

I've done a few bodges. Some worked, some not so much. I've seen some really wicked bodges. One friend busted a head stud in his Model A powered dirt track racing roadster. It was a wet stud. He plugged the hole with wood putty. It raced fine til he blew the bearings. After a Sabbath, he returned with a better engine and the hood/bonnet from a classic Cord. Really looked good and raced very well.

Another pal bought a stripped T. Painted in pastel colored house paints!! Really weird! But, in it's past, it had thrown a connecting rod out the side. Fixed the hole with a neatly fitted patch screwed in place with Permatex as a gasket. We never could get that thing to run, so we never knew what was in the innards.

Much later, a local racer found a cheap way to get a very decent race engine. WWII surplus new and freshly rebuilt GMC 2870 engines that powered the famed deuce and a half were sold as scrap. To protect the market a sledge was used to knock a hole in the side of the block. The guy just made a neat patch and screwed it in place and went racing. The amazing torque of that truck engine was just right on the 1/4 mile dirt track. Not as good an longer ones as the screaming Fords and Olds were faster.

Do it right, do it once. Do it wrong, over and over and over!!!

Were it mine, I'd strip it and get the stub out and treat it to a new set of good studs. That removes the angst of wondering how long the bodge is going to last.
Were it an engine on it's last legs, mebbe.

Good luck

Carl

 

Don't bodge it ! You can get to the base on the broken stud by removing the core plug next to it, then should be able to extract the stub end. As this has happened to one stud, I suspect others are almost as bad at the back of the engine where the coolant flow is lowest and crud build-up the highest.

If you do bodge it, I suspect you'll be sorry a few months down the line.

However, that's me, but it is your car, so you can fix things the best way you consider, and say "damn all you perfectionists" !!