Triumph Stag V8 Head gasket change

[@835-Act]

Recommissioned a stag v8 engine back in 2018 that was sat for 25+years….got the short studs out on the exhaust side, but no way was the long stud coming out…had to engineer a jacking system using M16 stud bar to push against the top of the studs and drag the heads off that way…..are happy days 😂

[@ingmarrichartz9429]

These bolts are a nightmare! I had many issues with them on my many owned Dolomites! Now I am restoring a Stag and I think that I will be overhauling the engine too just to get everything ok. I do have time to soak these bolts untill they dissolve 😂, so that is what I will do! Those stud or bolt removal tool seems a good investment, so I will go for that too!

[@talbotracer]

Yep a complete pain very bad design, try to find a set of original stud tools from Irwin as modern ones are made in china

[@SW-qr8qe]

In 1992, I pulled a Dolomite 1850 apart which looks like half of the V8 engine. Same issue, all studs corroded to head. I ended up using a lump hammer and pieces of wedge shape wood. The engine was new apart for being used on a university dyno Unfortunately it had been outside and become full of water. It was destroyed by corrosion internally. I’d gathered that by the time the lump hammer came out!

[@grathlingillingham5135]

Good job, decades back I have known those stag heads taken off in pieces. It was such a pig of a job with the corrosion.

[@thomascatford2627]

These studs are a dowel fit and corrode to the head , very same as saab 1854cc engines , saab had a puller to remove the head

[@ingmarrichartz9429]

Would this puller be available somewhere?

[@psk5746]

Some of the head studs are angled. You need to remove them first. You can buy like a hole saw that cuts the crap around the head studs and allows them to be removed

[@talbotracer]

yes used to have them for my MK2 Jags, but this one was ok after i broke the seal with the wedges

[@stevesalvage1089]

Yes done many , not just a stag problem , lots of other known maker engines same thing , remember these are sometimes 50 years old eventually all gaskets will fail ,, hole saw helped, but made pulling tool ,, to be fair the. Stag engine is not bad at all , ruined by no maintenance, and. Poor factory. Fitting , once put right will give years of trouble free use with simple oil changes and gravity fed header tank ,

[@psk5746]

Also I would remove the engine and check all the surfaces are flat as these engines are reliable and good ONCE they have been rebuilt properly AND the mistakes made at the factory rectified

[@KJs581]

Those studs are the most ridiculous mech idea EVER. I have had my Stag for 31 years. First time I removed the heads on mine, the ONLY thing that worked was penetrene injected into the gap between studs and block, and then nuts locked against each other. Took a week of soaking and waiting. When I put it back together, I replaced those stupid studs with high tensile socket heads (allen) bolts. They have been in there since 1993, and every time I have ever had to remove the heads = come undone staright away. Do that, it willbe the best money you ever spend on a Stag. Over that 30 years, I have stripped at least half a dozen Stag engines, some came apart easily, others were terrible. There are mulitiple "special tools" and I have them all, but if REALLY stuck, the best way is to weld a nut onto the stud, get a socket and breaker bar on that. Then once you get them out - NEVER USE THEM AGAIN!!!! Just use bolts of the correct length. It works perfectly. Like I said, done 330,000 kms in my car in 31 years, NEVER had a problem getting the heads off after ditching the stupid studs. You will never regret it.

[@talbotracer]

when we had the heads done the chap drilled the stud holes out a bit so with luck that should be ok, and i hope i wont have to do it again