The War Wagon... decaring wars on the grocery store since 1966

[68scott385]

Here's a thought. Can you pull the manifold toward the inner fender well? If so you can cut the offending bolts and get the manifold off - I suggest a Sawsall. Put the blade between the head and the manifold flange and be sure that if you gouge anything it'll be the manifold. Leave as much of the bolt as you can so you can grab the stub with Vice Grips and remove the remainder.

Another option - remember that the manifold is cast iron and therefore pretty brittle. If you're mad enough you can break that sucker to smithereenes. I don't think there's much value to it on the resale market and the scrap guy doesn't care if it's in chunks.

Dan

I was thinking along those lines but didn't want to be the one to suggest any of it. It's easy to see in your(my) mind what to do or what needs to be done but explaining it is another matter completely. I find that we think in ways to approach a problem by what tools we have on hand which may not always be the case with the person in a jam.

[DanStokes]

Here's a thought. Can you pull the manifold toward the inner fender well? If so you can cut the offending bolts and get the manifold off - I suggest a Sawsall. Put the blade between the head and the manifold flange and be sure that if you gouge anything it'll be the manifold. Leave as much of the bolt as you can so you can grab the stub with Vice Grips and remove the remainder.

Another option - remember that the manifold is cast iron and therefore pretty brittle. If you're mad enough you can break that sucker to smithereenes. I don't think there's much value to it on the resale market and the scrap guy doesn't care if it's in chunks.

Dan

[Shelty]

hours worth of work today, maybe moved the manifold a millimeter. heat, pb blaster, pulling, prying more pb blaster.... yelling.

my drill wont fit in the space between the fender and the broken bolts.

trying to avoid having to tow this thing to the exhaust shop.

short of pulling the passenger fender off, so I have clearance, im running out of ideas.other than to keep doing what im doing. I couldnt even pull the head if I wanted to, because the manifold is in the way of one of the bolts, and my luck one would snap as I took it off

[68scott385]

http://www.sears.com/cental-forged-1-2inch-drive-stud-extractor-puller-remover/p-SPM213831557?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

In my experience with broken bolts/studs, this tool is the only thing that has worked worth a crap, which may say more about my ability to effectively use pliers, vice grips, and/or channel locks.

Getting the manifold off is still the first priority. Worst case scenario you have to drill the bolts out. In that case, start with a small bit, 1/8", centered as best you can. Increase the bit size incrementally until you get close to the bolt size or start to get close to the side of the original bolt hole. Get the correct size easy out, gently tap it into the hole, gently turn the broken bolt out. If that doesn't work...well, it might be time to think in extremes.

In any case and as previously mentioned, use generous amounts of PB Blaster.

[Shelty]

thanks, I if I can just get the manifold off i'll be fine. I didnt think to tap on the bolt heads, these are the first broken bolts Ive encountered so far. the rest came out fine.

I'll mess with it more tomorrow,

but the headers are nice and do tuck up neatly under the car and dont hand down low.

[Deaf Bob]

Tapping on the bolt heads and using PBBlaster worked for me.. You wanna rap hard enough to break the threads free.. Looks like a couple days of soaking them is your choibe unless you can heat them up.. If you get the manifold off and can use vicegrips, rocking it on/off helps, going more off every time you get easy..

[Shelty]

headers showed up yesterday, so today after work I got to turning wrenches.

got the driver side in, thanks for the tip scott, had to jack the engine up a decent bit to get the header between the engine and the steering box. but bolted up enough to be in the car. I need to modify the alternator mount, since the car was equipped with the manifolds that have the bosses for the alternator in it, but thats the least of my problems.

now the passenger side, that hasnt gone so well so far. got the outer bolts on the stock manifold out. the center two bolts however.... snapped off right at the head of the bolt as soon as I went to loosen them. I drowned them in pb blaster. they wouldnt budge, so I heated them up. as soon as I began to loosen them and SNAP, now Ive got two sockets with bolt heads stuck in them. and since the studs are still in the head, I cant get the manifold off, it isnt budging.

any tips on how to get the pass side manifold off? should I try to drill them out until I can get the manifold off, then try an easy out? I dont know what is holding the bolts up, if its rust or someone used locktite.

was hoping the passenger side would be the easy side.

[Deaf Bob]

Unless you get a hardcase, you will be severely laughed at....

[Shelty]

I already know the back way lol. less likely to run into one of my coworkers. Its a small barrack, most know what the wagon looks like lol.

[Scott Liggett]

It's so much fun driving to the exhaust shop with open headers at 7 am.

[Shelty]

nothing has happened with the wagon in the last two weeks. been busy with work, had training that ate up my off days, plus its been hovering around the triple digits heat wise, with like 80% humidity, which has killed any ambition I had...

waiting till I get paid next week to order headers, then there is a shop about 6 miles from me that will do a custom exhaust for around 350. going to go that route, cuz it is farrrrr cheaper than buying new OEM style exhaust. plus 2.5 inch exhaust > 2 inch oem.

hopefully updates in the next week or so

[Scott Liggett]

The pointer needle is adjustable. It is attached to the column by a cable. The bracket on the column has adustability on it. It has a small hex head screw holding it. It is also something you would need to remember to disconnect if you ever need to drop the column. Easy to snap the cable.

[Deaf Bob]

Shift it manually.. My suburban needle is disengaged, can feel each shift manually.. If you don't go fast enough to engage OD, you can shift to d and feel it shift back into 3rd.. The suburban has 3:73 and ALWAYS shifts out of 1st by 15 mph..

[Shelty]

Have you checked/adjusted your mechanical linkage? If you put the gear selector (on the steering column) and trans lever (on the side of the trans) in neutral or high gear (pick ONE) then make sure the mechanical linkage is adjusted so that the two are in agreement. I'm at a loss for words to paint a better picture. You want the transmission to be in the gear that the gear indicator indicates. This is the only way I know to do it using a 4-speed auto trans and a column indicator with less than 4 forwards gears. You will have PRND32 if column originally was used with a 3-speed auto trans OR PRND3 if the column was used with a Powerglide. Does this make sense yet? The point is that you won't be mechanically able to pull the trans down into the lower gear(s), because of the column's original shift pattern, but the rest will be there.

As far as the transmission itself, shifting is a function of hydraulic pressure & throttle position (transmitted through the tv cable), more throttle the higher rpm before it shifts to the next gear, and less throttle the lower rpm when it shifts. It will always take off in first gear unless you have a full manual valve body. Ideally it should shift into high gear at light to medium throttle at roughly 45-50mph, any higher than that the tv cable tension needs to be backed off a tooth or two. I know it's not always easy to get out and test drive it to highway speeds or more.

I get what you are saying. since the car had the powerglide originally, the indicator on the column says PRNDL (low) I spent several hours fiddling with the lokar column adapter when I installed it and I do have full sweep of the gears. The gears on my trans should be P,R,N,OD,D,2,1. the pointer doesnt line up with the column indicator, so I count over the number of clicks. and I feel it engage when it goes into OD. but I can select all of those gears at will. I know that part is correct, spent more than enough time working on that part.

I probably just need to adjust the TV cable a little more, I think I have it close. Ive not had the car up to WOT yet, mostly just 1/4-half throttle.

I'll get a tachometer installed on it soon, as well as use my GPS to get the mph when it shifts, in case the speedo is off. and I'll probably do like what Brian did for now exhaust wise... , just so I can hear myself think, and not garner any attention from my fellow law enforcement there are a few who I work with who are not fond of modified cars, and have been known to write tickets.

[68scott385]

Have you checked/adjusted your mechanical linkage? If you put the gear selector (on the steering column) and trans lever (on the side of the trans) in neutral or high gear (pick ONE) then make sure the mechanical linkage is adjusted so that the two are in agreement. I'm at a loss for words to paint a better picture. You want the transmission to be in the gear that the gear indicator indicates. This is the only way I know to do it using a 4-speed auto trans and a column indicator with less than 4 forwards gears. You will have PRND32 if column originally was used with a 3-speed auto trans OR PRND3 if the column was used with a Powerglide. Does this make sense yet? The point is that you won't be mechanically able to pull the trans down into the lower gear(s), because of the column's original shift pattern, but the rest will be there.

As far as the transmission itself, shifting is a function of hydraulic pressure & throttle position (transmitted through the tv cable), more throttle the higher rpm before it shifts to the next gear, and less throttle the lower rpm when it shifts. It will always take off in first gear unless you have a full manual valve body. Ideally it should shift into high gear at light to medium throttle at roughly 45-50mph, any higher than that the tv cable tension needs to be backed off a tooth or two. I know it's not always easy to get out and test drive it to highway speeds or more.