Stuart Turner - head off but block won't move!

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m1taylor

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Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

Further to my previous post, with all the useful advice I got the head off my Stuart Turner R3m. But the studs were in very poor shape and have heavily rusted into the block casting - presumably from a fault in the head gasket which may have allowed water to get to them? Wrongly or rightly I felt I needed to get the block off - to check the rings, and give the block water channels a really good clearing - and the studs looked irredemable. That's where the trouble started. The block appears stuck to both the studs and the crankcase. So I tried a stud extractor, and woe is me, the studs sheared off, even though I had used gallons of WD40. So the block won't shift, and no studs! What to do next...?
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

Take it to a professional to fix it, and pay lots more than you would have done if you'd taken it there in the first place.

It's all very well having the right spanners, but you need to know how to use them.
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

I'm feeling rather deflated. There's me thinking my successful engine refurbishment was down to skill, when all along I was just lucky. Bad luck Jimminy.

Water always reaches the studs as they run through the cooling galleries, so rust is inevitable They can only seize for about an 1/2 inch at the top and / or bottom where the tolerances are a bit tight. I wasn't kidding when I suggested immersing the entire engine in diesel for a month, it really does help.

If you've reached the stage where your studs are all (you didn't stop at one?) sheared at the head you're in deep [--word removed--]. I think you might be better off sending your engine to Fairways Marine for a rebuild, or advertise in the 'wanted' section of the forum. Buying a runner, if you can find one, will probably be the cheaper option.
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

well, that's encouraging!

Actually, If I can get the block off, as I probably will (hence just asking for some ideas other than pay someone else to do it!), then the studs can be removed, as there will be enough of them left to grip and extract, or worst case scenario, drill out. The whole point of having an old engine for next to nothing is that you don't send it to a marine engineer who will charge much more than the engine's purchase price just to look at it!
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

I had exactly that problem with a Stuart P5. I overcame it with the help of a retired engineer neighbour, who regarded it as a personal challenge.
We repeatedly heated red hot, soaked in Plus Gas,[extinguished shed], put in freezer, [dont let wife find out]. After several cycles we used Ezi-outs, reverse thread thingies. Got out all bar one which we had to helicoil. Took weeks though.
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

You probably realise now you have got to the point of doing it for the hell of it, not because you want to save time or money....

No easy answers at all, except throw it overboard - or put it on Ebay for spares!

If you really want to persist, then I cant better the advice already given - you have a long hard job ahead of you!

Good luck
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

He's right, temperature cycling is the way to go. A lot of heat required, an acetylene torch woudl help if you have one handy.
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

Be carful acetylene can melt! Last week a took a manifold along to a local garage(a good garage) to remove 4 rusted studs.

After lots of spray and spaners came the acetylene the first stud heated limped over and fell off melted!!!! The other three just wouldent come out. Im going to try that locktite -43 product if i can find it (from the other post)

Good luck!

Where can one find an old stuart turner or why in working order? there used to be a boats "junk yard" in Southampton very expensive but then (1980/5) they had what would by now be some good gear!! Is it still there? (i dont have the address)
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

[ QUOTE ]
there used to be a boats "junk yard" in Southampton very expensive but then (1980/5) they had what would by now be some good gear!! Is it still there? (i dont have the address)

[/ QUOTE ]. No: site now occupied by the inevitable block of 'luxury' flats.

There must be some similar 'graveyard' around for insurance write offs etc - any body know? Or are they all chainswaed now - if so what happens to useable bits?
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

I guess you are reffering to one of two places, either the old Belsize yard on the Itchen on the bend at Bitterne Manor or you are talking about the Aladdins cave barge at Swannwick, the former is now flats, the latter going strong.

No shortage of Stuart Turner's, check out ebay.
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

See Eventide Owners Group

website:tp://www.eventides.org.uk/sell_your_boat_of_other_boating.htm
to find a Stuart 1.5 described as 'complete and in very good condition' with gearbox, from a guy in Essex, asking £260

Might be easier, certainly quicker and probably cheaper way to go? and you have a nearly full set of spares (if you can get them off yours)
 
Re: Stuart Turner - P66 trouble - before I start!

I have just purchased an old boat, with an even older motor in it. It a Stuart Turner P66 on the plate it has marked # 22 B 856 then under that 10 and 1 650.
OK, I thought it was seized. However I have managed to “free” the flywheel.
After reading faiways website I think it may have been dropped on the flywheel, or similar, as it has flywheel rotation from 12 o’clock to 10 o’clock (clockwise) then gradually “grips” or can’t rotate any further.
Is this symptom consistent with a bent crankshaft tail?
It’s my first 2 stroke inboard – dad had a blaxland though …
If I’m in the ball park please let me know.
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

I have seen heads removed with wedges of softer metal driven in where the gasket is, it destroys the gasket totaly other method used a puller which was straped around the block and a metal cylinder was used in the piston bore.


Hope this might give you some ideas
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

Just an update - a professional engine re-builder could not get the block off and confirmed that the studs have corroded into their sleeves. So now I don't feel quite so stupid!! (so 'professionals' have done little better!!). Maybe the engine is spares only, but I may try the 'soak in a barrel of diesel' trick - nothing to lose I guess.
 
Re: Stuart Turner - head off but block won\'t move!

Bad luck there Jimminy. One last suggestion for you though.

If you can get a hacksaw blade in between the head and block you should be able to cut through the studs. Once off, you may be able to drill out the remaining bits of studs. With care, and progressively larger drills, you should be left with just the threads left, which can be cleaned up with a die-tap. Do the same at the bottom end and you're almost back in business. Drilling out what's left of the studs in the cylinder shouldn't be too difficult as there's no threads to damage. Getting new studs made shouldn't be too difficult.

Like you said, you've got nothing to lose. Best of luck.
 
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