The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Heat Riser Stuck

I have been spraying it with WD40 and trying to turn it with Vise Grips but won't give. Not sure if stuck open, is there any way to tell?

Check out this thread: https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=701198&page=. I used Thunderbolt on mine.I think something like that will work better than WD 40. I sprayed a little everyday for several days, tapped it with a hammer, put the pliers on it. Eventually I got it free. The posts should tell you what position it is stuck in.

I don't know if this will help, but it is the manifold off my 1954 235 engine. You can see the open heat riser, and the weight position.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8Ibs2LFo3bsq8

I have yet to work on any of these old "stove-bolts" that did not have the "heat rizer" rusted in the open position.

Just takes a little patience alot of penatrating oil and a small "ball-pene hammer".

After squirting the oil around the shaft, gently tap on the ends of the horizontal shaft to break the rust loose. ( in a few years it will stick open again)Remember that you are working on a steel shaft which has lost it`s temper over the years and cast iron which tends to be brittle.

If you live in an enviroment where the temps are not really cold (Below 20 degrees), just forget about having a
heat rizer. Leave it in the open position.

Camsore, all those things ever do is stick. I solved that problem on my '36 Chevy pickup by making a stainless steel shaft and staniless steel bushings for the exhaust manifold. That was over 25 years ago and it has proven to be a permanent fix.

All that hammering, twisting and penetrating oil simply doesn't fix the problem permanently, and it makes a real mess while not working. I know because I tried before finally biting the bullet and making the stainless steel parts.

I'm told by an automotive engineer that unless you live in Ethiopia, an engine warms up much more quickly with a functional heat riser. That's why the factories all used them.

Got it free. I used PB Blaster

How much play do you have in it if you take and try and move it up and down? I took mine apart and put a new shaft in it. There was a small bushing in the hole that the shaft rides in. Just a small circle of thin metal. Don't watch you don't loose it if you take it apart. By the way, if you take it apart you have to grind away the welds on the flap.