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Long story short. Lost timing belt, discovered head damage, got different car, ignored for months. Finally bought referb head from Odessa Cylinderhead, trying to get it ready to put in.
On the bottom of the head is a pressed in tube. I think its called a dowel pin. Anyway, the refurb has a hole for it but its not included. I can't figure out how to pull the old one, or where to find a replacement to press in. Any ideas at all would be great, thanks!
The alignment pin is steel, while the head is aluminum - due to dissimilar metals corrosion, it's stuck in there pretty good. Use copious amounts of penetrating oil, possibly even a propane torch for some spot heating. Don't be afraid to grab it with a pair of vise grips and twist it out - if it gets some minor scratches on it, those can be cleaned up with a file as long as it isn't too bad.
Worst case, a dealer should be able to get them for you - I just had to get a replacement for an 02 Saturn I'm working on; new pin was 6 bucks and they had it in a couple days.
in case someone else runs into this, here's what I did. Hit it with a bit of PB blaster, let soak overnight. Found random bolt (no clue what size) that fit inside the tube tight enough that I had to gently turn it in. This was to keep the tube round. Cranked the vise grips around the tube with bolt inside. Twisted back and forth till it came un-siezed. Then used a crow bar under either side of the vide grips to force it up, occasionally twisting a bit. Not easy, but doable. I didn't scratch the old head, but I would have been FAR more worried about it if I was using that head!
Reversed the bolt into the other side of the tube so the end damaged by the vice grips is going into the head which is softer than the block. After making sure I had it started straight, beat the top of the bolt with a hammer to force it in. Press would have been a better choice.
When I put the head on the block it was a bit sticky ad the tube wasn't in perfect round any more, but it went down. Forced shape by engine and head and engine heat should eventually help it back to shape, and the head gasket ought to prevent any leak. I don't even know if fluid goes through it or not.
Have to finish it up now, here's hoping I don't regret it!
You're right on track - once you got the head seated onto the block, that dowel is back into shape. No worries on a significant leak point - the only thing that goes through the middle of that dowel is a head bolt.
As long as there was so stray metal shavings on the outside of it that could have compromised the gasket in that area, you should be fine.