jerry gollnick

I have been trying to remove the steel studs in the original aluminum manifold on my 61. I have tried soaking for days with kroil. I have used a propane torch to heat the bolts while tapping the bolts. Nothing seems to have an effect. The manifold is on the car so i don't want to get an acetylene torch out and make a big mess out of this, I'm using two nuts to try and back the studs out. I have read that traditional penetrating oils will not be as effective because we are dealing with aluminum oxide rather than traditional iron oxide. Is there a more effective penetrating oil/liquid for steel studs frozen in aluminum? I REALLY don't want to break these studs off, what advice do you folks who have been there done that have?

Factoid

Weld a nut on the end and then attempt to remove it before it cools. Of course if it doesn’t come out now you have a nut stuck on the end, but the only real way to remove a steel stud from aluminum is with heat and even then it will probably bring the aluminum threads with it. Best of luck!

ben dover

I've had some luck with heating the alum. not the stud, and also with

solidaxel

I have had some luck with the candle wax
Heat the stud anyway you can and then place the candle wax at the base and it "might" wick into the threads
Use your double nut and try to move the stud

Vette5311

Just a warning ⚠️I went through this with a carb stud. (I know smaller but). Broke it off drilled it and then broke off an ez out in the hole. Had to have it EDM to remove. Not cheap so be careful.

John S 1961

why do you need to?

Frankie the Fink

Tests have shown that a 50/50 solution of ATF and acetone is the best penetrate...I would try that before I went medieval on things...

R66

Can you post those test results and the applications?

Anyway, the main thing is the heat on the aluminum to expand it around the stud threads. I rap the stud with a hammer when the heat is applied. I also try to tighten the stud a very little to break the bond. Then I apply the solvent, Kroil, or candle wax and watch it evaporate or burst into flames when I use it (not trying to light the string on anyone's Tampon). Keep in mind the cool solvent will cool the aluminum and you may have to reheat the aluminum, thus burning off the remaining lubricant, if any. Then while the aluminum is hot, I try to remove the stud.

Ron

LouieM

Here's the info I have from 2007.

The April/May 2007 edition of Machinist's Workshop did a test of penetrating oils where they measured the force required to loosen rusty test devices. Buy the issue if you want to see how they did the test. The results reported were interesting. The lower the number of pounds the better. Mighty interesting results for simple acetone and tranny fluid!



Penetrating oil .. Average load .. Price per fluid ounce

None ................. 516 pounds ..

WD-40 .............. 238 pounds .. $0.25

PB Blaster ......... 214 pounds .. $0.35

Liquid Wrench ... 127 pounds .. $0.21

Kano Kroil ......... 106 pounds .. $0.75

ATF-Acetone mix.. 53 pounds .. $0.10



The ATF-Acetone mix was a 50/50 mix (1 to 1 ratio).

BLUE1972

ATF-Acetone mix.. an old trick works well.

Synthetic 0 - 10 with the acetone works better - but not as low cost. It flows better than ATF.

The Freez-off is a modern form of the above and works well. It chills the joint and allows the oil to penetrate.

Heat the stud/manifold and soak the joint ( where the stud meets the manifold), while hot, a few times and it usually releases..

pop23235

A light touch with an impact wrench after heat and soaking. Forward, then reverse. Rinse and repeat. Be gentle though.

Frankie the Fink

That's what I was referring to - for the skeptics - yeah, it surprised me too..

MikeM

Would it surprise anyone to know that straight Marvel Mystery oil is probably as good as any in the sample above?

Frankie the Fink

I hope not. It’s been in a few of my crankcases.

R66

Thank you for the education on penetrating oils. I intend to go out and buy some acetone and as it is safer than oxy-acetalene when the part is on the car. However, I still contend that heat and any penetrating oil used in combination is a waste of time as the penetrating oil will burn off the 3000 deg F. of the torch.

Frankie the Fink

Soaking with penetrating oil over time should allow it to work before heat is applied. It’s whole point is to leech into the fasteners and loosen things via capillary action which takes time.

Several applications over a couple of days sometimes.

LouieM

Maybe, but until it's been tested using the same procedure, we'll never know.

GTOguy

I'm with John in post #6. Why do you need to remove the studs?

John S 1961

Ditto on the 50/50 atf and acetone. Works well. Sometimes the hammering an air ratchet can help with the busting loose.

But sometimes i will reconsider the "need"

jerry gollnick

So the question was asked about why I wanted to remove the studs. This photo shows what i ended up doing. I wanted to keep the engine temperature stock sender in place for the readout on the dash. I needed a temperature probe for the electric fan associated with the air conditioning so i needed a second location. i tried using a thermostat housing with fitting as suggested but the necks were oriented in the wrong direction. I choose to use a spacer. i tried the various methods suggested and they worked on one stud, the other stud broke off and had to be drilled out. Not a big deal just messy. I appreciate all help and suggestions. This forum is a continuing valuable resource, thank you all. jerry