Having a hell of a time removing head...

[93civicracer]

Yea so the Civic's been sitting for almost a month now in my drive way needing a headgasket change. Everything's disconnected and removed but me and my brother are having a hell of a hard time getting those head bolts out.

We've loosened the 4 outer corner bolts, but the 6 in the middle seem just about impossible to take out! We have no access to impact wrenches or any of that, just good old standard ratchets and extensions, and we both work out so we're not exactly that weak but these bolts seem impossible to remove, just how much are they torqued??!

Really what I wanted to ask is is there any sort of trick to taking them out without air tools or something? We've tried hammering but nothing seems to budge these bolts and it really makes things harder when you can't pull with both hands because the extension makes it wobble and slip off.

Thanks for any replies..I need to get this thing running right so I can dump it on someone else's hands and look for a better car like a Honda in better shape or a 240sx, eclipse turbo, 300zx, etc.

 

[93civicracer]

A 14mm breaker bar, wouldn't it still slip off and leave us with the same problem? I'm going to go grab some liquid wrench and see what's up because those other bolts weren't too hard with a standard 3/8" ratchet.

 

[stock98EKcoupe]

they're only on with about 50 ft lbs. They're not exactly axle hub nuts. If you're having problems, just put a long metal pipe on the end of the ratchet to get some leverage

 

[team_spoold]

a cheater bar will solve all your problems or if all else fails spare about 30 bucks and go to autozone or your local harware store and get yourself a nice impact wrench that'll deff give those stubborn fuckers a run for their money i had the same prob on my old motor i did a mini me swap and the sumbitches wouldnt move for me either

 

[HondaElite]

i go witht he pipe option...works everytime...

 

[team_spoold]

A 2' breaker bar from any autoparts store will serve you well and should be one of your tools anyway. Don't work harder, work smarter. And don't use an impact on your head bolts unless you want to risk ruining the bolt holes.

And what's Liquid Wrench going to do for something that's been soaking in oil for several years?

heh learn somthin new everyday^_^

 

[LS_VTEC]

Cylinder head loosening sequence, 92-95 civic sohc engine.

 

[LS_VTEC]

Pry the head from the block using a suitable prytool.

 

[LS_VTEC]

You have to loosen the adjustment bolt (for t-belt tensioner) first...

 

[LS_VTEC]

Loosen bolts 1/3 of a turn in the proper sequence order to prevent warping the head.

 

[92civicb18b1]

Yea I have 3 maybe 4 breaker bars in my box.

I personally used an impact on low speed to remove the head bolts on an old D banger and didn't damage anything but I took the LS head bolts out with the breaker bar, I wasn't gonna risk it with my "good" motor.

Go with a breaker bar and a pipe.

 

[LS_VTEC]

I personally use my Snap-on electric impact gun to remove the head bolts. The proper way is listed, but if you have a steady hand it can be done safely.

 

[awptickes]

I just use the pipe-method. A good 4' length of pipe will make real short work of 'em.

 

[93civicracer]

I went to Autozone and bought some liquid wrench and a 2 foot breaker bar we'll see what's up with those sonsabitches tomorrow, I was job hunting today so didn't get around to it.

Also we didn't loosen them in that exact sequence, we did 1, 2, 4, 3 and we loosened them a little more than 1/3 or 1/4 turn...a little over a full rotation. But it's all good, I've been wanting to bring the head to a machine shop anyway to check for warpage, I'm gonna ask them how much for a port n polish while they're at it maybe free up an extra 5 ponies with a blox IM and larger TB .

Also, about the timing belt, when I removed the head from my other engine I just slid it off to the side lol and it's not turned over to TDC either. I shouldn't have any problems as long as I put a mark on the tooth and belt in the same spot right then I can just slide it off?

Thanks a lot for all the responses by the way!