I have spoken to a mechanic friend who has expressed concern over my plans to remove the head on my 760 turbo in order to have the broken manifold stud machined out he seems to think that as it is an alloy head i will more than likely have problems getting the head to seal once it has been removed and that i would be better to drill the stud out even if it means damaging the threads and making it oversized. do these engines (2.3 230et) generally cause problems when trying to reseal the heads i would of course use a new gasket and if available new head bolts and have plenty of time on my hands as the car is not being used at present my thoughts are that i would rather remove the head and have the stud machined out and done properly but if it is going to cause problems resealing the head gasket maybe i would be better to try and bodge it in situ i have already attempted to drill it but have gone hopelessly of centre and risk damaging the threads and making the hole oval and oversized if i do any more to it in situ whereas a machine shop should be able to bore it out with much more accuracy once removed from the block
thanks for any help
x1sjwebster

 

Neither I or anyone I have ever known has had problems getting the head to seal.Are you planning to have the head shaved while it is there?Even if not you should be fine!!!

 

I had been reading on various volvo forums about the tool available to hold the crank pulley while removing the bolt and also many other methods one interesting one involved stuffing rope in the spark plug hole to jam no1 piston at top dead centre so was dreading that part of the job but it has turned out as easy as pie thanks in part to the fact that the bolt had been well copperslipped by the previous owner or his mechanic i just removed the flywheel cover and jammed a screwdriver in the ring gear and using a long breakerbar and 24mm socket gave it a gentle tug (wary of breaking the ring gear it could happen i am sure, and if it could happen it usually does to me!!) and it came first time easy.
So the head is of and first thing monday morning it will be down to the engineers to have the offending stud removed don't know if you have heard of "german swedish french car parts http://www.gsfcarparts.com/ "but their head gaskets seem very reasonable at £8.50 about $20 approx if anyone has used one let me know if they are any good or if it would be best to use a genuine volvo one.
x1sjwebster