Rocker Pin Replacement

[Harry]

1966 230SL.  I am considering replacing the Rocker Pin (ball head) in my head, as well as the rocker arms and cam.  First things first is removing the Rocker Pins (and I haven't begun to try to remove those yet).  It would seem that the better approach would be to have the aluminum head hot or warm, making the threaded hole in the head a little larger since aluminum expands greater than the steel pins.

And since I read that removal can be such a challenge, I am considering a pneumatic impact wrench with the 6-point socket.  So I am interested in hearing from the Forum on experience others have had with this particular job.  (Is it covered in the BBB?)  And what is the tightening torque on the reinstall?  Any sealant on the pin threads?

Advice and actual experience would be much appreciated,
Harry

[Cees Klumper]

I've only very limited experience with this, but I would not advise using a (heavy duty) impact wrench for fear of messing up the head/threads. I would just get as large a breaker bar as you need, and I would think most/all should come out with carefully applied force. But maybe I am being overly cautious.

[MikeSimon]

I have replaced all the ball studs and rocker arms in the head of my 1971 280. First, I wanted to replace the whole ball stud assembly, but the stories about potentially destroying the threads in the head scared me off and I replaced the ball studs only and left the lower holders in place. The downside is, that you may lose some of the torque as the steal threads of the ball studs in the holders will become damaged when removing the ball studs. There is an offset thread pattern which provides the "locking" characteristic. I addressed this by slightly squeezing the thread part of the ball studs I put in. I got little response here on how to do this properly before I started the job.

[stickandrudderman]

Do not try to remove the complete assembly; chances that you'll ruin the head are 99%.
Just replace the ball pin.