L28 rebuild

andrew muir

Club Member
Hi I am finally getting round to stripping down an old L28 I have.
However I am having lots of issues with seized bolts etc and have snapped quite a few some of them being left withing the block etc.
I have just been using WD40 and normal spanners/sockets etc.
Would buying a impact driver be better for removing stuck bolts rather than using loads of preasure on sockets and spanners etc.

Also how do I go about removing all those broken bolts.

I am sure we have all had some experience of this just looking for a bit of knowledge and advice.

Thanks in advance:cheers:
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Hi Andrew, I thought you'd hibernated.

I think impact drivers are a bit brutal and I've never had any luck with then but some people swear by them.

I use PlusGas on exposed nuts and leave it to soak-in overnight. Then be really careful when applying pressure and go 'backwards and forwards' a little. However if they are really stuck sometimes heat is needed to try to expand things and break a 'seal'.

You may have to take the cylinder head to somewhere where they can clamp the head and use a pillar drill to drill-out the studs or whatever has snapped.
 

Turn & Burn

Club Member
As Rob says heating is great, but can be taken one step further with cooling rapidly as well, blow torch followed by chilled water spray. There is also a really good American spray called PB blaster that works well if left to soak in.
 

jonbills

Membership Secretary
Site Administrator
As Rob says, Plusgas is definitely more effective than wd40. Combination of a plusgas soak and heat nearly always works for me.
 

Jon_Flynn

Club Member
Plusgas is great, used it a few times. When I was working on an old engine a few years ago I had 8/10 bolts shear on me so I hired one of these:

Draper 80808 Expert Induction Heater Tool Kit https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BMZ0RCW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_H5p4yb8A3BPV6

Much safer than the oxy-acetelyne torch as no chance of over heating other parts of the engine or melting a cylinder head. Think I paid £30 for the day and had em all done in an hour.


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andrew muir

Club Member
Well still snapping the bolts!
Even after soaking overnight in plus gas and using a butane blow torch to heat up , don't think it gats them hot enough??

I dont think the penetrating fluid can get to the longer bolts eg some of the water pump one etc, Same applies to the heat.

Any other sugestions??:(
 

Jon_Flynn

Club Member
Rent one of the induction heaters I've mentioned above. Super useful and safer as well


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andrew muir

Club Member
Hi Jonny
No the puny blowtorch is not powerfull enough to get it glowing red.
So probably no use.
Torch is probably more useful for flambeing meat on the barbecue.:D

How difficult is it to get these studs out of the block afterwords?
Any tips?:thumbs:
 

Huw

Club Member
For the less stubborn studs, just use two nuts locked up on the exposed threads and out they should come. For the stubborn beggers I've just used a Draper stud extractor, looks like a big drill chuck. They came out pretty sweet when I did my L28. Used it on a variety of stubborn studs for various engines in the past. Lots of Plus Gas first. For the really stubborn ones, used in conjunction with a very long breaker bar.

If you have access to compressed air then my favorite weapon of choice would be the impact wrench. Which are not at all brutal if used correctly. If used with good quality impact sockets and a compressor that can supply enough air, they are less damaging then other methods.

But as said by Jon, the induction heater is the best of the lot for moving rusted in bolts and studs. They are not that expensive to hire.
 
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