[alfa] Stuck Head on 3.0 L V6 -- HELP!!!

[Dio Genio <diogenio@xxxxxxxxx>]

My V-6 rebuild saga continues. Today the driver's side
head came up and off like a dream, just lifted it by
hand.  The passenger side is another story...

The head is loose on the studs, I can lift it about 1
or 2 mm, and then it abruptly gets hung up on
something, which is NOT stud corrosion. (I can lift
the rear end of the head up more than the front, seems
it is only hung up in front).  This is some form of
mechanical interference. I believe it is the rocker
arm shaft, which for some bizzare-o reason Alfa
decided to place so close to the head studs that they
had to mill flat spots in it for stud clearance (V-6s
are not for the timid, 4-cyls are soooooo much
simpler...!).  

I removed the cam, and inserted a bolt/nut/washer into
the rear threaded section of the rocker shaft.  I
tried to pull the shaft out, but it will not budge! 
When it is put under tension, the head cinches down
tight and I can no longer wiggle it up the 1- 2 mm.
When I take the pulling tension off of the shaft, the
head becomes free again (at least for the 1 - 2 mm of
freedom). This is pretty much proof that the rocker
shaft is grabbing onto the threaded top section of the
studs, preventing me from lifting the head more than 1
- 2 mm.

Does anybody know how can I rotate the shaft so that
the flat spot is parallel with the stud, allowing me
to pull the head? Rotating this shaft is no trivial
matter, there is nothing to grab onto.

I also considered removing the stud (or studs) that
are suspected of holding the head captive.  I could
get thin nuts, double nut them and see if that will
get the stud out. Is is difficult to get an Alfa head
stud free? I have never tried it.  I assume it is a
regular-sense thread--counterclockwise will remove the
stud, right?

Any advice for a frustrated, V-6 novice engine
rebuilder, besides to stick with 4-cyl cars...?  

Dennis 
San Diego   



	
		
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Friends.  Fun.  Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger.
http://messenger.yahoo.com/ 
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided