I just bought a 1966 F100 that has a bad gasket on the front of the drivers side. I tried to remove the bolts the lower one came out np but the top snapped off. I'm sure removing the engine/tranny is the only way to rectify this. I will need to drill and tap the busted one, and wonder if there are any suggestions for removing the other bolts. At first I thought the gaskets were individuals and planned to go at it that way, it was not until I went to get the gasket did I realize it is all conected.. I will do both sides at this point.

I read another post here about soaking the bolts in Liquid Wrench,, I have been spraying them with PB everyday for a week planning to do the engine removal in the morning...

Is the use of an impact driver for the bolts a bad idea ?

any help will be very appreciated..Regards Redmanbob

 

you can remove the head easier than the engine and tranny.

 

I dont need a head gasket. ///and I only want to remove the engine to deal with drilling out and tapping the broken bolt. As well as any more that may do the same while trying to remove them. It will also give me a chance to clean everything while it's out..

 

I think what mark is trying to say is that the manifolds are attached to the head so if you remove the heads then you can remove the manifolds on your work bench or wherever and be able to drill any broken bolts out more easily.

 

just remove the heads why make it so complicated?

 

This would actually be the best thing you can do. You actually have less chance of snapping off another bolt head that way. If it is adjustable you can start with a low tourque setting. The jarring action is what does the trick. Apply more tourque as needed. With muscle and a breaker bar one tends to just give it all they've got and snap goes the bolt.

That is how I did a 390 several years ago....

 

Redmanbob Welcome to FTE The best truck show on the net.

Me thinks you have run head long into a FE snake pit. I don't think spraying PB or any other solvant for a year and a week will make much differece. The top bolts are constantly heating and cooling and get rusted in.

Spraying the solvant is a great starting place, but heating the area cherry red and slowly rocking the bolt forward and backwards is the only way that I know that will get your success rate up. I don't know if you can all of the top bolts out without breaking at least one. Sometimes when you thing you are turning the bolt, you will actually be twisting it until it breaks.

It's one of the worst jobs to tackle on a FE.

John

 

You've discovered one of the annoying idiosyncracies of the FE. Sometimes the bolts come out, sometimes they break.
I tend to agree with Gashog - just fly at it, remove the heads, and do it right. However, if the motor's not in great shape otherwise, you might not want to spend the time and money on a re&re of the heads. I had the same problem recently, and ruled out that option because the motor was well-worn. I put a good 390 in the truck. It was faster, easier, and because I got a screaming deal on the 390, cheaper than the head job. Good luck!
Eric

 

dont mess with the good side unless you have to.if you want to take the engine out then leave the head on if you can.i dont like taking the head of an old engine.it can start them doing all kinds of things.

 

Personally, I would remove the heads, have the valves done and while the heads are at the machine shop, have them surfaced on the exhaust port side. Have the manifolds surfaced on the port side, too, this way you will not have to use an exhaust gasket. I did this to mine and bought new grade 5 bolts with grade 8 washers. I used plenty of anti-sieze on the threads and have not had an exhaust leak since.

 

Thank everyone for all the feedback.
1.I did not have money for the head work.
2. The motor has 165ppi on all cylinders xcpt7 153pp , sparkplugs are clean, it doesn't smoke etc...
3. It is a filthy mess though from years of use..

I could however afford the gaskets and motor mounts the passenger side was bad. So Ipulled it and 3 of the top bolts did indeed snap (I did not try the heat) saw the post after the work was done..thanks I'll know in the future..

I got a few drill bits and a hand drill and , grinder to smooth the face of the bolts.. and went at it. They all turned out fine and it's bolted back up...

As for the other side I agree with the above post of if it aint broke dont fix it..

"Thanks Again for all the insight" "I do like this site.. Great bunch of folks".. Regards,RT

 

Redmanbob, I think you did it the right way myself, I fond that pulling the engine far faster than pulling the heads, that is if you have a hoist that is. And if you are not going to do any more work to the inside of it, there is no use in openning it up. I did the same job on my sons 66 2wd and we had the engine on the gound in less than a hour. So welcome to the site, as you can tell there is alot of good advice here.

 

I agree with bertha66 just pull the motor and tranny set it on the ground and drill them out that way. Its faster and easier. I pulled the heads of a 67 Crummy to do it once and I will never do that again. It cased so manny other issues its not even funny. So I would pull the motor out and call it a day.

 

On my 75 F100 360 motor, the heads had 2 of the top ears partially snapped off, presumably due to stuck bolts. It was like that when I got it.Is there a way to fix this? Can that area be built back up by welding, or are the heads ruined?

 

Check with a machine shop around where you are, the heads are cast iron and they may be able to build them up, I'm not a welder so I'm not sure.