Tool for removing head bolts?

[Paul R]

Hi,

Do Halfords or similar do a tool for un-doing the head bolts? (on a rev1 tubby) Kind of like alan keys but with more 'teeth'!

Need to get the head off tomorrow, so if someone could help, that would be great!!

Paul.

[Lee @ 3S Service Centre]

yeah halfords sell them.

cant remember there name i think there just star drives or they could be torx drives i cant remember.

you will see them on the shelf tho

lee

[Paul R]

Cool. Any particular size that I need? are they 8mm or 10mm or something?

Cheers,

Paul.

[couldnt_think_of_a_name]

torx head mate. it might tell ya on www.mr2-tech.com


J

[Paul R]

torx head mate. it might tell ya on www.mr2-tech.com


J

I have the service manual mate. It say's to use SST blah blah blah...................

Do you know what size the head bolts are??

Paul.

[nutter]

They're star drives not torx heads, metric. Can't remember off hand the size but if no-one has replied to this post when i get home i'll check for you.

[Bender Unit]

Machine mart sell a whole set for 25 notes, IIRC you can get this cheaper still from Frost £20.

In the kit they also have a long extension set which is perfect for undoing the head bolts as they can get right down past the cams.

Regards

James

[JJ]

Agreed, way forward is to get the long reach ones... this will clear the cams otherwise you'll get down to the last bolt on the inlet, next to no. 1 bearing cap and find you won't get the socket / star drive in !!

Then its pulleys off, timing back plate off, inlet cam out before you can have a crack at that bolt - makes life easier when refitting / bolting down the head of having the head / pulleys all in one lump opposed to trying to assemble it in the engine bay !

[Paul R]

Agreed, way forward is to get the long reach ones... this will clear the cams otherwise you'll get down to the last bolt on the inlet, next to no. 1 bearing cap and find you won't get the socket / star drive in !!

Then its pulleys off, timing back plate off, inlet cam out before you can have a crack at that bolt - makes life easier when refitting / bolting down the head of having the head / pulleys all in one lump opposed to trying to assemble it in the engine bay !

Hi,

no worries mate, I have the engine out of the car and stripped. only bit I need off is the head now! So access isnt a problem.

Paul.

[JJ]

You still need a long reach star drive though, otherwise you'll be assembling the cams on the head once you've bolted it down.

It should be as simple as building the block, building the head, bolt them together and lash a timing belt on them.... none of this retorque of bolts into an alloy cast holding down bearings for the cams ( bearing caps ) be careful ! I screwed one up last year... caused me additional time wasteing tapping the thing out and getting a larger bolt in there.

Have fun

[Paul R]

You still need a long reach star drive though, otherwise you'll be assembling the cams on the head once you've bolted it down.

It should be as simple as building the block, building the head, bolt them together and lash a timing belt on them.... none of this retorque of bolts into an alloy cast holding down bearings for the cams ( bearing caps ) be careful ! I screwed one up last year... caused me additional time wasteing tapping the thing out and getting a larger bolt in there.

Have fun

One more question on this - the service manual says to remove the cams and then the head (undoing bolts in the correct manner) Is it really necessary to remove the cams before removing the head bolts?

Paul.

[stevecordiner]

none of this retorque of bolts into an alloy cast holding down bearings for the cams ( bearing caps ) be careful ! I screwed one up last year... caused me additional time wasteing tapping the thing out and getting a larger bolt in there.

Have fun

That was a real pain in the ar$e

[JJ]

One more question on this - the service manual says to remove the cams and then the head (undoing bolts in the correct manner) Is it really necessary to remove the cams before removing the head bolts?

This is toyota covering their ar$e because that same head bolt I'm talking about next to the intake cam... is very difficult to remove..... !

Basically, you can pull 9 bolts out of the head and loosen the end one so its clear of the block... lift it off the block, but you will still have to leave the bolt in the head. Doesn't matter what generation it is, i've pulled so many heads off the 3SGTE engines and they're all the same. I had one head that allowed the bolt to pass the cam... but that one also had some serious float to the cam too ( worn! )

Don't forget, when you refit cams, stick a head bolt in no. 1 intake beofe bolting it all back down or you'll find you'll be taking all the cam out again just to feed the Head bolt back in ! Been there, done tat too many times... I still never learn too !!

Its like fitting the dist cap on the distributer then trying to refit the distributer to the head - eeeerr... need the cap off !! DOH !

Some things are just to hard for me to grasp !!!

[JJ]

That was a real pain in the ar$e

Good job we were swapping out that inlet manifold, otherwise more countless hours doing that too !

[stevecordiner]

Good job we were swapping out that inlet manifold, otherwise more countless hours doing that too !

Lol ... yup, but theres something rather unpleasant about lying in a puddle of petrol while people are having ciggies beside you

[steve b]

the head bolts are effectively allen key bolts with more positions, just like your regular socket. It can be a problem to get a prefabricated tool thats long enough. The very simple solution is buy the appropriate size allen key, cut the angle off and that makes the perfect tool slot allen key in head bolt and socket on the other end, job done

[lund]

I struggled with this also when I first took my head off

If you lookup the Toyota SST it is an Allen key if memory serves me correct 10mm

I tried all the torx and star bits going and they chewed the heads

JJ gave me a website address with all the service manuals on it and there is a picture in there under SST tools

HTH

Chris

[Lee @ 3S Service Centre]

there is definately a toll that fits correctly as i have one

Halfords sell them in a set as i was actually looking at them yesterday. Not cheap tho.

It was a full set of long reah ones. They were around 25 quid......ouch!

looked good quality though.

lee

[steve b]

like i said allen key + hack saw = tool thats perfect for all of £3

[Paul R]

They're star drives not torx heads, metric. Can't remember off hand the size but if no-one has replied to this post when i get home i'll check for you.

Ah, didnt see this post before!! bu88er!! I've just got a set of Torx drives! Are they the wrong ones then ??

Paul.