1 hour job, NOT!!! (1 Viewer)

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Colorado Boy-74-FJ40

I may grow older but I refuse to grow up!
Joined
Aug 5, 2005
Threads
83
Messages
1,461
Location
Windsor Colorado
My water pump replacement this weekend went south quick. The pump went on easily and got the alternator belt on, Fired her up and she started to overheat. No heat in the top hose and the radiator was cold. Thermostat!. The damned thing was working fine before the pump shaft got loose. So I go to Checker auto. They tell me it wil go back-order like everything else I try to get for it. I order it and head home. On the way back home I swung into NAPA just for the hell of it. They had one on the shelf along with both seals!. I couldn't believe it. So I get a refund from Checker and head home. As I take the bolts out of the thermostat housing, one snaps!. Son of a bitch! I try to easy-out the bolt and the easy-out snaps off. I end taking the thermostat housing off the block and get it on the bench. I was able to get the easy out removed but the snapped bolt wont budge. I ended up drilling and tapping the bolt and using a 1/4" bolt in place of the metric. ( I only had an SAE tap) I got it all back together and now all is fine. I drove it to work and it seems great! What should have taken 1 hour took 5!.. Such is life when working on a classic.
 
Dude-

I feel your pain. Like the weekend when I first got my cruiser, I tried to get all the little snap rings (read cone washers) off the hub so I could JUST replace the brake rotor! Tried for two days straight, broke some snap ring pliers...

2 Days later, and ready to sell the thing, someone told me to hit the stud ends with a hammer... D'OH!

Cruisers... they are a love hate thing.

I feel your pain.

Rezarf <><
 
Been there

REZARF said:
Dude-

I feel your pain. Like the weekend when I first got my cruiser, I tried to get all the little snap rings (read cone washers) off the hub so I could JUST replace the brake rotor! Tried for two days straight, broke some snap ring pliers...

2 Days later, and ready to sell the thing, someone told me to hit the stud ends with a hammer... D'OH!

Cruisers... they are a love hate thing.

I feel your pain.

Rezarf <><
I had the same setup on my 84 Toyota 4X4 pickup. Once I figured the cone washers out they were a piece of cake!
 
isnt that how its supposed to be? ha ha. i always get scared when i have to undo toyota bolts.
 
I refuse to answer my wife when she ask how long it will take me to do anything on my cruiser.
 
I am a big fan of welding a nut onto stuck/stripped bolts now. Everytime I have done it the heat seems to solve the problem and the bolt comes right out. I screwed around with some windshield screws over the course of a week with PB Blaster and an impact screwdriver, finally got tired of it and welded some leftover small bolts on to them. When they had cooled they practicalluy fell out of the hole, I removed the windshield screws with my fingers, no wrench needed.
 
Most of the hardware on mine has NEVER been removed. It's mostly all original. Looks like I'm going to get pretty good at hardware removal. looks like I'd better buy some metric taps. I'm really fearing putting new bushings on the spring shackles. It looks like the rust/grime/scrapes have welded the nuts in place. Kroil and a long extension......let her rip!
 
oh man, i was going to try to pull the air-rail off this weekend and even after spraying liberally with PB Blaster, and letting it soak for a few hours while i installed a new OEM gas tank, they absolutely weren't going to budge. after 27 years they are incredibly crusty from all these New England winters. sucks too because the rear of the rail has perferated through and i patched it with exhaust pipe sealer, but that's a temporary solution, so it's gotta go.

anyone else have similar difficulties with this they could share success stories of, and how they did it? (no. 6 fitting is gonna be a pain) i'd like to get this done before it starts getting cold out. my pipe plugs are waiting...
 
I used a crows-foot with some valve grinding compuund smeared on the fitting for grip. It mangled the fittings pretty bad but they broke loose. There is quite a bit of thread on those bastards.
 
the torch is called the blue tipped wrench for a reason.

metal expands when heated.

have a nut stuck on a stud?

heat the nut cherry red.......BUT do not cut...get on it with wrenchs ASAP she'll spin right off.

have a bolt stuck in a blind hole?

heat the head but not red, give it alittle then back off for a second then give it some more(you need to let the heat soak in), might have to hit a few times.
when ready give it a few minutes to cool off. it will shrink when cool.


i NEVER try to get those therm housing bolts out(of a truck that is probably un-touched in years) with giving them some heat first. if you don't you run the risk of what happened to you, or you'll pull the alum threads out of the lower housing.
just don't go crazy with the heat, alum gives very LITTLE warning before melting.
 

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