R65LS Restoration - Valve Cover Stud

[r65lsk75c]

I learned quickly why the previous owner or shop opted for gasket sealer rather than gaskets on the valve covers. It only took a couple of hours with a razor blade to get them off the heads. The center stud on the left side is so short that with a gasket in place I could not use a washer under the center nut. Realizing that this is not likely to be a good long-term situation, I gave a quick shot to screwing the stud out a few turns. No such luck! Any suggestions for unscrewing this stud far enough so that I can mount the valve cover with gasket and a washer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rick T

[barryg]

Double nut the stud. Take a heat gun and heat the stud and area around the stud until your spit boils off the area around the stud. Hopefully the stud will back out. The next step is a little more involved. I'm a machinist so what i'm going to suggest is what a machinist would do to fix the short stud. I would go ahead and force the stud out. It will strip the aluminum out around the stud. The fix then is a proper size helicoil or timesert. My on personal preference is the timesert. Your local autoparts store should carry both. I think that stud is a m6. Follow the instructions given with the supplied kit. The BMW stud now inserted should have the proper length to allow for gasket and washer. I hope this will help you.

[lkchris]

Get new studs.

BMW mistakenly installed some too-short ones at some point.