ad_car_08s pre-cat removal questions from his garage!!

[Peter Wright]

Right, update time!...
I've drilled the head off the left bolt (the worse one) and continue to feed the right bolt with the penetrating fluid, resigned to that fact i'm not gonna get this done today!
Now to add insult to injury, I've taken a look at the nxt two bolts....not good news....
I'm feeling like THE most unlucky person when its coming to these precats!!   s:( s:(    that left one is literally rusted round!!
will the irvine kit tackle that then?? sounds like I'm gonna have to buy MORE tools!!  s:( s:(

You think you have problems, you havent even started on the manifold bolts yet   s:( s:(  
You should have started with plus gas  10 days ago on every bolt
I also ripped my gasket, so I hope you have bought a new one
I hope you read the how to
 m http://spyderchat.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=43234 m
Best of luck im sure we are all feeling for you
Pete

[MR2 New Boy]

that makes no sense....irwin only do 10mm, 11mm and 13mm sockets......I NEED A BLUMMIN 12mm!!!!!!




.......i gotta laugh, i'd cry otherwise  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

To be honest I wouldn't bother with them. I went through exactly the same frustrations as you. I bought a set and wasted my money.

It took me 2 days to get the heat shield off and had to cut a piece of the shield of to get at the last bolt.

Be patient it will come. but its not a quick job  s:D s:D

[ad_car_08]

that makes no sense....irwin only do 10mm, 11mm and 13mm sockets......I NEED A BLUMMIN 12mm!!!!!!

.......i gotta laugh, i'd cry otherwise  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

To be honest I wouldn't bother with them. I went through exactly the same frustrations as you. I bought a set and wasted my money.

It took me 2 days to get the heat shield off and had to cut a piece of the shield of to get at the last bolt.

Be patient it will come. but its not a quick job  s:D s:D

Thanks for the words of encouragement MR2 new boy   s:D s:D  
It's beaten me for today, but I'll be back onto it Sunday! Hopefully finish it on Monday.

Peter, yeah I'm using that as my manual. It's such a valuable resource, the indepth description and pictures are perfect for the clueless like me!!

[lemans]

Hi All

A good tip for rusty/damaged nuts given to me by a mechanic is to apply a little dab of grinding paste on the offending item.  If the rounding off is not too great the grit in the paste takes up the spaces and gives better grip.  Coarse is probably better than fine!

I have used this with success in the past.

Regards

Daryl

[ad_car_08]

HI all,

Well I've finally got the heat shield off and now tackling the bolts that hold the manifold onto the engine and the 3 amigo's.

This is getting beyond a joke! I've tried 14mm on the amigo, but that was a shade too big, and a 13mm was too small?! same sorry for imperial?!

As for the manifold-engine bolts, a 7/16 was too small, 12mm too small, 13mm too big....

What on earth are the sizes?!

[Anonymous]

The amigo bolts are 14mm, my manifold nuts were 12mm

[ad_car_08]

i've tried a 14mm ring spanner on the amigo's but they seem slightly sloppy & made me worry about them rounding off

[Anonymous]

Yeah, you are right to be worried about rounding them off. I know this is obvious, but it sounds as if you need a socket which fits better. I'm assuming youv'e wire brushed it to get rid of the loose stuff and soaked it with PlusGas. It's all very 'softly softly' - tighten a bit then loosen a bit and better when hot etc, etc,.
So easy to say from a distance I know. (Bear in mind that a garage would just round the bolts, try an extractor, if necessary drill them out re-tap and, also if necessary, fit a new part - nought wrong with this but it can start to get expensive). Got a garage to fit a new uprated front roll bar to a Saab 9-5 last year and one of the bolts sheared so best to stick on in there!

[ad_car_08]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

Well, I'm very pleased to say the manifold is now off, and precats are now gutted!!   s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:    Without the help of a breaker bar & a can of WD40 to loosen those 3amigos, I'd still be there now!!

So armed with a hammer and flat head screwdriver, I've smashed and pulled out the precats and wadding. Then to make sure, I've steam cleaned the manifold to get rid of any residual precat dust. That'll do the trick won't it?

[markiii]

yep it should do

when reassembling put a little anti seize on teh 3 amigos, just in case you ever end up in there again

[spit]

A happy ending. Well done matey.

[ad_car_08]

A happy ending. Well done matey.

I haven't put it back yet!   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  

but yeah a happy ending indeed, thanks to all those who offered help and encouragement!



Now thinking what the next project could be. Could do an oil change, but are there any other common faults that need sorting before i can breathe easy and enjoy my roadster???

[ad_car_08]

(Apologies, just found this topic  l viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2248 l  which didn't appear when I ran a search!)

[StuM]

Congrats on getting it off and gutted.  Perseverance paid off   s:D s:D  

Cheers
Stu

[ad_car_08]

Thanks Stu   s:D s:D  

Perseverance paid off indeed....plus the use of an extra pair of hands & brain!

Still looking for the next project to undertake...  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[StuM]

plus the use of an extra pair of hands & brain!

Yes, I had these too - plus borrowed a well stocked garage!   s:) s:)

[Anonymous]

sounds like deja-vue,my three amigos snapped off,had to drill and retap.had to dremel all five manifold nuts,took 8hrs to remove and prepare for refit.got worried when i saw smoke from my engine when i restarted it but it was just plusgas burning off!!

[Anonymous]

I really got used to this with old cars (late 50's - early 70's). You'd think it would be different with cars of our age.

[kanujunkie]

As for the manifold-engine bolts, a 7/16 was too small, 12mm too small, 13mm too big....

What on earth are the sizes?!

easy, rusted to hell sizes, you've lost material due to exfoliation of the outer layers, hence why the sockets dont fit, not that i condone it but hammering on a smaller size socket will help as someone has already said, just make sure its a hex(6 point) and not a bi hex socket (12 point). The irwin screw/stud extractors are good but if the dont work will give you fewer options later as they completely knacker the heads up

your best bet on fixing bolts like the heatshield ones is to just snap the head off, gring it down, drill it undersize then use a 1st and 2nd Tap. Using these crappy single size taps makes your life very hard as they arn't always designed to give you the ability to start the thread properly, a descent tap set will have a starter tap(1st) and then a second to finish off the threaded hole.

[markiii]

any suggestions for one of these "Good" tap sets stu

mine is pretty crap

[kentsmudger]

when reassembling put a little anti seize on the 3 amigos, just in case you ever end up in there again

OMG! They won't grow back, will they?    s:crazyeyes: :crazyeyes: s:crazyeyes:

[markiii]

 :-) :-) :-)  modding this car is addictive, you'll be in there again in time

[loadswine]

And after you've done it on this 2, you'll be doing it on the next one!  s:lol: :lol: s:lol: