Push rod inspection plates...

[86aggie]

The seal/gaskets on these plates were leaking and my mechanic says they are very hard and difficult to remove. He's been soaking, scrapping and chipping away. Any tricks that you have used to remove them?

 

[toy_tek]

He’s not wrong, but has he never worked on an old engine before? My tip would be to make sure it’s cleaned up well enough to see all the bolt heads that need to be removed.

 

[86aggie]

He's an old school mechanic. When he told me about the leaking plates, he knew the block was a Chevy(?) block, hence the plates. I have not seen it directly, but if I understand, he has the plates off, its the gasket that is hardened and difficult to remove.

 

[MWM1]

There is not a lot of room between the push rod plate and the distributor. Heater hoses get in the way too. I replaced the gaskets on mine when I was replacing every hose on my FJ62. I also removed all the accessory brackets to repaint. Then with everything removed, you have some wiggle room to remove the push rod plate from the front. Some have had success without removing anything, but I was not as fortunate. Also while you are in there, check the condition of the tiny freeze plug next to the spark plug (No.4?). If that freeze plug is in poor condition, all the engine will push out in seconds potentially causing major damage to the engine.

 

[bhsdriller]

plate is off he can't get the old gasket material off

Nothing special....scrapers, razor blades, wire wheel on drill etc

 

[Pighead]

Any tricks that you have used to remove them?

Special tool called "Gasket Scraper", and elbow grease.

 

[MWM1]