TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Jul 27, 2009 7:49 am

Hey, where's the tin on that engine?

8)

Mon Jul 27, 2009 7:52 am

tencentlife wrote: ...it would require making a tube of accurate length that could be slipped over each one until it bottoms on the root flare. There would have to be three different tubes for the three lengths of studs. This will require some more investigation.

In the interest of science, i could take my set of head studs to work and measure them on the height gauge we have there. It would certainly be easier to just measure the overall length, but i could take a couple others, too. That is, if you don't have enough for a reasonable data set. Of course, this would only be measuring used ones, but might still be interesting.

-Damon

Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:20 am

Thanks for the offer, Damon. To begin with I would need to get new ones to have the original length. Measurement in-hand is easy, but the whole point is there needs to be a way to accurately measure the length while in the case, since the biggest bear about changing them out isn't the price of the studs, although that is considerable, but the labor of extracting them; they do not come free easily, as Rocky will attest. If I make up tubes that can fit down onto the taper at the root flare, then they could be slipped over each stud in situ to see if the stud has lengthened. How much is safe would be based on what is considered safe for other highly-stressed stretch-type bolts, such as are used on other cylinder heads, and allowing a proportional change in length. The changes would be very small, though, I would think at most a few thou on the longest ones, so the machining of the measuring tubes would have to be pretty precise so they fit down onto the root flare consistently.

Don't know if it would actually be useful, it's just an idea at this point, but you can see why I would be motivated to figure this out.

Oh, and I don't want to forget to say thanks for all the very kind remarks made by everyone; I'm glad if I helped anybody, but mostly I'm humbled by your praise!

Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:30 am

I don't know of a way the check the stretch of the head studs as they are not like a rod bolt that you can put a gauge on. Just got off the phone with Randy at raceware. He says he no longer has the WBX head studs and last cost was $350 a set. He said he would make another batch if he could get 20 orders with 50% down. Working on and building WBX engines for years now, I have seen through my shop over 10 engines that have had broken head studs that came in on the hook. I have seen from customers sending me their blocks another 40 to 50 broken head studs. I inspect each head stud with a magnifying glass and a strong light to check for any pitting from rust removing and replacing any that show signs of being corroded, the area closest to the block is where most of the studs corrode and break, the engine I removed the stud for 10 cent (Chris) was outside top #2. the outside ones are the ones I see broken most of the time. I buy core blocks from shops that don't or won't deal with removing the broken studs & replacing them with good used ones. When 10 cent was at my shop I had over a hundred good used studs in stock of all three sizes. As these engines get older the head stud problems will get worse. Its just the cost of building better than the run of the mill engines. Thanks Rocky

Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:44 am

Tencent saved me a fortune..
he stopped me getting into a mess with a rebuild.

"Abandon it..!"

I did, and have a great engine now.

In England he'd be given a round of "HUZZARS!" and "frees a jolly good.. "
The Queen would have him round the palace for tea.

such is his fame for being a jolly decent chap.

Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:15 pm

Bruce Wayne wrote: I plan on going with a tc engine when my time comes.
Me too. Even if he's a Northern New Mexican. :lol:

Mon Jul 27, 2009 7:45 pm

Nortenos rule, ese!

Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:15 pm

ben- nice call on injectors! getting new injectors, hence the waiting...
saw your write-up after the fact

and for the tins, it's a lot easier to find any leaks with them on. Now that motor is worry free, they are getting put back on.

Gotta love this forum.
8)

Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:03 am

noza wrote:
Gotta love this forum.
8)
Second that.

With 10cent (things 2.1 and 1.9), Dogpilot (things electrical), Ben (Subaru swap trials and tribulations as well as a massive stock of process photos), Loogy (for suspension and wheels... and for me, the best SVX photo documentation I've found yet),...
This place is a REALLY great source.

Lots and lots of others with great input, too.. almost always tempered with a solid dose of objectivity and practicality
..
Hard to find anything on the web as solid as the Samba, these days.

And I haven't even ventured into the sandrail and body work areas of the site yet!