1982 351w. I have removed all the head bolts and the head absolutely will not move.

I tapped lightly with a hammer, tried getting a screwdriver in to pry it up and had no luck.

I also tried to thread a bolt into the holes on the end to give me some leverage to pull up and the head will not budge at all.

Is there something I am missing?

 

A pry bar at the corner should break it free - assuming all the attaching pieces have been removed.

 

Which corner? I couldn't really find a spot that a pry bar would fit.

I am pretty sure everything is disconnected. I took the intake and exhaust manifolds off, took alternator, etc off.

I took the head bolts out.

The only thing that could possibly be holding the head on are some set screws located in between the valves on the head (pictured below). Do I need to figure out a way to remove those? I did not have to do anything like that with the other cylinder heads I have worked with.

 

I strongly advise against messing with those. They seal the water passages. Same with my M block.

Try to slowly and carefully work on the corner near the end of the valley. You see the curve where the intake seals? It should be flush with the deck/head mating surface. Also, you could try a putty knife and hammer to seperate the two. I had to jimmy a transmission case that way.

 

Yeah I didnt think I needed to mess with those set screws.

I guess I'll continue to try and pry the head off. I'll try on the corner with a putty knife

 

In the past with engine tear down's, I have had to put a prybar in an intake port and pry outwards. Pops them off pretty easily. Don't be a gorilla with the prybar in any port.

 

Each head should have two alignment dowels between the block and the head. So the head will not slide in any direction. It will have to be pulled upwards. If you still have cherry picker you can use that to pull it off.

 

No, don't mess with the allen-head plugs.

A putty knife isn't gonna do it, even a screwdriver could be difficult. Use a pry bar or other long, kinda-large lever to pry up on a front corner where it meets with the block.

 

I was able to finally get them both off this evening using the cherry picker and a pry bar.

It was very difficult. At one point the cherry picker lifted the entire engine and stand off the ground.

There was all sorts of gasket maker on it. Would it have come from the factory this way? Everything looks like its in really good shape. The engine has 90,000 miles on it but I am wondering if someone has been in there to do some work already.

 

Someone has been in there. Factory does not use gasket maker for heads.

 

Thank you for confirming that.

Now I'm wondering why someone had been in there.

I am planning on replacing the cam and valve springs, lifters, etc. Is there a way to see if those things have already been changed?

 

Chris Tibutis likes to use rtv or gasket maker on heads. However, that is not the way to do it. Nothing should be used other than the gasket. The oldtimers would use silver spray paint or maybe K&W copper coat.


Don't lose the alignment pins!

 

You have got crap all down in the valley. I bet that stuff has made it's way into the lower end. It may be a good idea to do an entire disassembly. I would put new bearings in the lower end if I did that. Maybe someone else will chime in and say if I am talking nonsense or not.

 

I was referring to using the putty knife to merely break the seal. You'd still need to pry it off afterward.

 

Yeah, man! Especially on the coolant passages, what easier and better way of blocking coolant flow than that?

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