cylinder head removal question (1997 tacoma)

Hey guys, hoping to have this answered by people who have had some hands on expierence with removing the cylinder heads on the 5VZ-FE engine.

So basically I've been doing a big tear down on my old truck, and am at the part where I'm removing the cylinder heads. I've watched multiple videos and read some, but what I think I'm gonna try to do is: instead of removing the heads together, or removing the exhaust cross pipe and down pipe on each side to do them individually, I don't see why I can't just remove the STUDS from the exhaust manifolds then unbolt heads and pull straight up.

I understand that the exhaust manifold attaches to the heads at a slight angle, however I'm hypothesising it could be possible to have someone pull them outwards while i pick up the head and maybe be able to clear the half-inch or so distance that would be needed to clear the angle.

Again, have no idea if this will actually work hence why I figured to ask here before pulling out studs. I know the studs are kinda hard to get too, but if this will work feel like it will skip a bunch of extra steps. Thanks for you input!

 

Pull the exhaust manifolds off completely, then pull the heads off separately. Otherwise, you are just wasting time, only to do it the right way later on.

 

Big reason I leave manifolds on is so I can remove them on the bench. But I live in the rust belt, so there's risk of a bolt rounding or stud stripping.

The studs dont come out nice on old trucks, your idea makes sense but will likely face difficulty.

I'd say remove the exhaust manifolds makes more sense. Or remove as an assembly with help. Studs make the least sense, simply due to age.

 

Heat them up, then zip them out, an induction heater is excellent for stuff like this.

 

In case anyone was wondering if it worked or not, IT DID. what i will say though is I got lucky the studs screwed right out for me there was really only 2 that fought me a little bit. So it will work but time wise I'm not sure if it was actually a faster or not.

 

I was thinking this same thing that it would be easier to remove the heads with the exhaust manifolds on too

 

i dont have an 5VZ
but
i would LOVE to see some pix if you have time OP!!!!!!

 

When I did mine I unbolted the down pipe from the crossover pipe, (my terminology might be off) so that I could move the crossover pipe around a bit, and with that I was able to pry the crossover pipe off the manifold studs on each side and pull off the heads with the manifolds attached.

On rebuild I put the heads on and then put the manifolds on after, I remember it being pretty difficult and having to pry the crossover pipe a lot to get the manifolds back onto the heads.

I never removed any of the studs though.