01-11-2005, 12:48 AM
So, tonight I decided i'd remove the head from my long block, to send it off to be worked. Figured it'd take 20 minutes tops since, after all, the MKIII's original head bolts came off with a ratchet.
Boy, was I wrong.
Ok, so to begin with, on the original head we used a hex key to remove the head bolts. The head bolts aren't hex, they're Torx. Secondly, it took me, my father, my father's knee, an impact socket, and an enormous breaker bar to break them loose.
Many of you have never met my father. Before he became a Pastor, he was a diesel mechanic. He has an inch drive socket set. He has arms the size of small trees. After he was a deisel mechanic, he was an industrial electrician, and then he *taught* deisel mechanics. The man has arms that look like they could crush your head like an orange. He's like Thor with a beard. Enormous. He can break things loose with his fingers that take Dave and I a ratchet to break loose.
Anyway, he struggled with these head bolts.
So all of them except for one (that's 13 of 'em) came out with relatively little drama. I mean, sure, we snapped the Ampro socket that came with the Torx bit, and we shattered my 10MM six point Craftsman that replaced it, but hey, can't make an omellette without breaking some eggs. But the 14th one? We stripped it. Whoo-hoo! Fun times! So how the hell are we supposed to get the head out now?
Get the drill.
So dad's korean drill bit does OK for a while. We sharpen it 3 times. The fourth time, dad says it's no good to try and sharpen it again, but I just happen to have a 14MM made-in-America drill bit from Solenbergers. It's a little big, but after some acrid smoke, alot of metal shavings, and me practically peeing myself with fear that something terrible was going to happen.
But nothing did. The head came off, and now there's a headless bolt sitting out of the block. But all's well in SupraLand.
So, here's what needs to be done:
Anyway. So, yeah.
Boy, was I wrong.
Ok, so to begin with, on the original head we used a hex key to remove the head bolts. The head bolts aren't hex, they're Torx. Secondly, it took me, my father, my father's knee, an impact socket, and an enormous breaker bar to break them loose.
Many of you have never met my father. Before he became a Pastor, he was a diesel mechanic. He has an inch drive socket set. He has arms the size of small trees. After he was a deisel mechanic, he was an industrial electrician, and then he *taught* deisel mechanics. The man has arms that look like they could crush your head like an orange. He's like Thor with a beard. Enormous. He can break things loose with his fingers that take Dave and I a ratchet to break loose.
Anyway, he struggled with these head bolts.
So all of them except for one (that's 13 of 'em) came out with relatively little drama. I mean, sure, we snapped the Ampro socket that came with the Torx bit, and we shattered my 10MM six point Craftsman that replaced it, but hey, can't make an omellette without breaking some eggs. But the 14th one? We stripped it. Whoo-hoo! Fun times! So how the hell are we supposed to get the head out now?
Get the drill.
So dad's korean drill bit does OK for a while. We sharpen it 3 times. The fourth time, dad says it's no good to try and sharpen it again, but I just happen to have a 14MM made-in-America drill bit from Solenbergers. It's a little big, but after some acrid smoke, alot of metal shavings, and me practically peeing myself with fear that something terrible was going to happen.
But nothing did. The head came off, and now there's a headless bolt sitting out of the block. But all's well in SupraLand.
So, here's what needs to be done:
- Send the "new" head to Carquest. This one ought not be warped.
- Sort out the wiring harness. I've identified the wires for the tach and temp gauges. Now to run them out, make sure they're fitted.
- Replace the valve stem seals.
- Get the toyota oil filter bracket bolt that allows me to run an oil pressure or temp gauge without tapping anything. Tapping blocks frightens me.
- Build my Y-Pipe and exhaust. The stock y-pipe has maybe 2 inches of clearance, tops, to feed both turbos. So I'm building a set of divorced pipes for the outlets and wastegates. It should flow worlds better and even though I'll be forced to part with my Greddy downpipe, it'll be alot better in the long run.
- Build an intake, box, and hood scoop. Both turbos feed from a common pipe. This would be necessary if I had a MAFS. But I don't. I have a MAP sensor and temp sensor. So, I see no reason to make both turbos fight each other to breath. Each turbo will have it's own filter inside a metal airbox fed by a hood scoop. Which will be sexy.
- Put it all together and turn the key.
Anyway. So, yeah.
1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442