make sure you are using a 6-point 5/8 socket

 

Hi

Excuse my ignorance but I didn't understand your second point...

By 1/4" I presume you are saying the 5/8" socket has to use a 1/4" drive?
It's the 1/4" bit confusing me... do you mean 1/2"

Thanks

 

I would use a 1/2 inch drive. 1/4th drive will snap immediately. I've never tried 3/8ths on head gasket bolts but I think it would snap, too. I think jfall meant a 1/2 inch drive, 2 inch long, extension to reach the bolts without hitting your rockers. The 5/8ths socket should be 1/2 inch drive and be the rough, black kind used on impact drills because it holds on to the head bolts much better.

 

Hi

Yes, that's what I expected. I took the rocker shaft off to give me better access to the head bolts. I'm not by the car, at work at the moment, but I'm guessing several of the bolts would just need a straight extension. The ones at the back are probably the tricky ones.

 

On the back bolts (closest to the firewall), you will need what I call "wobble" extensions that allow the socket to wobble a little. I really hate those extensions but they are a necessity in the back.

You will be fine with the rockers off; just be sure the rods don't come off of the lifters or put them back on, and keep both the rods and lifters in the precise order/side they are on. Since you have the rockets off I would turn them over and check the cups that the push rod ends sit in for any abnormal wear.

 

But back then I used to use red Hermetite spread really thinly on joints. I gather it's hard to find now and folk are using HYLOTYTE Red 100.... what are opinions on using these?

Blue Hylomar is great stuff for all the intake manifold joints (both coolant and oil passages.)

 

How is the job going?

 

Hi

I may be knocking 70 but I work every day, commuting 36 miles a day to Hollywood where I run a company designing and building pro audio products. So, by the time I get home in the evening, I don't have energy or inclination to work on the car.

But, come the weekend, like now, I'm back to work and the first order of the day is haul the exhaust manifolds off and lift off the heads.

I hold no illusions as to the problems ahead with that but will bear in mind the tips posted here and will start immediately.

The only small problem is I do it in my driveway and have to use a sunshade and an electric fan to keep me cool... temperatures here in CA will be in the 90's.

A question for the guys that designed the car... could you not have mounted the engine a couple of inches further from the bulkhead?

PS My history... Born in England and left school at 16 in 1962, signed up for an engineering apprenticeship using lathes, milling machines, etc. Pay was pitiful (three pounds a week) but paid for college and books etc. So not a lot of money to save for a grand car so bought an Austin A40 Somerset. So poor I could not afford new tyres so would buy used tyres and fit them myself with long tyre levers. Did all my own maintenance including engine out rebuilds (my next door neighbour had a pit and a lot of tools!)

Scroll forward over 50 years and its more of a service based industry where a lot of owners can't afford dealer prices and give their cars to back street mechanics... which is what i believe happened to my car with missing screws and nuts and an alarming number of supposed to be tight inaccessible screws that are loose to turn..

 

Wow! Those head bolts are something else! The manifolds came off fairly easy as I had bought a complete 12 point set of metric sockets and, as intimated in my prior post, the rear fixings close to the bulkhead were certainly not tight.

But these head bolts... I knew they would be a problem and I am using a two foot long torque wrench to give me leverage to undo them.

I had been doing family related things after undoing the manifolds and returned to the task at around 7.30pm.

I'm not looking forward to using that much force on the inaccessible ones! Murphey law I started on the right side head, the one with the blown gasket, and the leverage is poor because you are pushing rather than pulling. The left hand head will probably be easier.

Anyway, I would not let the bloody car get the better of me and did in fact undo all the head bolts and pull them out. This was done by flashlight as its dark now.

Murphys law the head won't budge. I have checked all the bolts are out and gave it a gentle nudge with a hammer but it is not moving.

In the old days I would crank the engine to use the compression to push it off. This might work as the plugs are in but the rockers and pushrods are removed.

I'll sleep on it and tackle it in the morning. I had rather hoped I'd have that head off today but that's life.

Late thought, I don't think this will work as I have disconnected the ground from the engine and I worry what the cpu will think about all the disconnected functions....

 

How many bolts did you remove per side? Should be 10. 3 long and 7 short.