Fortunately, most of the routine maintenance appearing in our Atomic 4 Service and Overhaul Manual can be accomplished with even a modest collection of very standard tools. However, with a growing number of our customers involved in heavier maintenance work, we have made an effort to procure and/or locally manufacture a few of the specialized tools that we find essential in our own shop work. The four tools described in this article are listed somewhat in order of the importance we attach to them.
Compression Type Stud Removal Tool:
This stud remover gets our vote as the most used of our specialized tools in our shop. We routinely remove all the cylinder head studs prior to removing the head. Believe it or not, heads still do not really fall off even when all the studs are removed, but we do greatly minimize the potential of damaging the head
After threading the tool over the top of the stud (down to, but not tight against the top of the head), the upper hex head is tightened while holding the outer shell as shown. This pulls a tapered collet up into the bottom of the outer shell and tightens it around the stud with great force, but without damaging the threads.
After tightening the collet, the stud can be removed by turning the main body of the tool. If the stud is resisting, try to work some oil down between the stud and the head. The tool will actually grip the stud tightly enough to enable you to twist it off if necessary. In this case, the stud will need to be drilled out to remove the head.
When drilling out a stud, be sure to leave about a quarter of an inch or so above the block so that it can be removed with a vise grip after the head is finally removed. While it may seem extreme to intentionally twist off a stud, it must be remembered that if a stud cannot even be turned within the head, it’s wishful thinking to assume that the head can be driven up and off of the stud. This would almost assuredly lead to damaging the head.
Valve Spring Compressing Tool – Snap Ring Pliers:
Our valve spring compressing tool and snap ring pliers probably do not require much explanation. We decided to stock them simply because so many folks have problems finding them locally.
Idler Gear Spindle Puller:
The idler gear spindle puller is one of the tools that we have made locally.
It’s rather simple to use.
Once the inner part is threaded on the spindle, the outer shell is turned in against the block to pull the spindle out.
After the spindle is removed, the small end of the spindle can be held in a vise while the tool is removed from the spindle
