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My car !@#%$ hates me

S

Starfury

Well-Known Member
So I set out to redo my intake gasket today. Again. For the third time in three months. Yesterday I checked my oil and noticed it was a little milky:-| I've had a hell of a time getting the intake gaskets to seal up properly.

Anyway, got over it and got to it today. Got the intake on and torqued, started tightening down the temp sender....and pulled the head off the brass pipe thread adaptor screwed into the intake. I also threw a wrench across the garage and shouted some obscenities for a minute. After recovering the wrench, I went at the remains of the adaptor with a pair of vise grips, which did nothing but grind the threads off the fitting. Took a trip around the block to kragen, picked up some square thread extractors, and went at it with the biggest one. Guess what? It's about 1/8" too small. More swearing.

So now I get to take the scooter to work tomorrow at 7am, in 45* weather. Then I get to try and find a bigger extractor.

To top it off, I'm supposed to pick a girl up for a date tomorrow night. That's not going to happen...

Seriously not happy right now.
 
Time for a rental......sounds like you need a break from the car.....go for the date.

I lost a couple of wrenches from the same type things. Never knew where they landed on the 4 acres.

Get the extractor you need, do an easy, steady, and even pull on it and things should come out. Those things seem to get worse when you rush it.

We have all been there so we can relate. Good luck.
 
btw, I never put the little end gaskets on, just some rtv. I think the ends always leak with the little gaskets on the front and back.
 
I have to assume that Tad knows better than to use gaskets on the ends of the intake manny.
 
Sounds like the problem we were having with SacBill's '68. We tried, IIRC, 3 times to stop it from leaking coolant into the lifter valley before giving up on the intake and using a different intake. Not sure if Bill's intake had a hairline crack in it or what. It would only leak after the engine heated up to normal operating temp.

Hopefully you'll learn not to throw things after you break something from doing it ... that's what taught me. :scar
 
Well, I chucked the wrench at the wall behind a bench. Not much fragile equipment in our garage.

I enver use the cork end gaskets. Always Right Stuff gasket maker. I usually put a thin smear around the coolant ports as well, but this time I went with actual Ultra Black around the ports to see if it would work better (Right Stuff dries really, really fast, maybe too fast).

I can't really take a break and go on a date. This is my primary means of transportation. Alternate is a '79 Vespa that tops out at 50 on a flat. I NEED to get the car running by tomorrow night so I can get out to school on Tuesday.

On top of this, my roommate broke his arm this weekend dirtbike riding, so I'm helping him do everything that he can't. On the upside, I get to borrow his truck tomorrow to get to work so I don't have to ride the scooter.
 
That sucks! I'm not sure for whom the worst, you or your roommate. Don't worry about it. Things will look better tomorrow and you will be driving it by Tuesday.
 
"johnpro" said:
Hopefully you'll learn not to throw things after you break something from doing it ... that's what taught me.
Click to expand...

My metal garage door has a dent in it from a hammer :wm? It serves as a constant reminder that tools + temper = more work.

Unfortunately, the reminder isn't always enough :craz
 
That sucks Tad. I swear I didn't send my "karma" your way. I've got an idea. Call a limo company and see if you can get a rental for the date. Middle of the week rentals can be talked down as they're probably sitting idle anyway. Good luck man. Hate to hear it.
 
"68EFIvert" said:
That sucks! I'm not sure for whom the worst, you or your roommate. Don't worry about it. Things will look better tomorrow and you will be driving it by Tuesday.
Click to expand...
Eh, don't feel too bad for him. He was out dirtbike riding in the desert. He was racing some other guy, came up on a blind jump at 65 or so, came down and the road turned and he didn't. Honestly, I'm suprised he hasn't broken something already.
 
"apollard" said:
My metal garage door has a dent in it from a hammer :wm? It serves as a constant reminder that tools + temper = more work.

Unfortunately, the reminder isn't always enough :craz
Click to expand...

I remember growing up my parents garage door had the perfect outline of a tire that my dad through at the garage door. I didnt have to learn the hard way, I learned from him. I saw him throw a wrench and break a windshield. I get up, walk out to the yard and throw the wrench in the grass, helps relieve the stress and I never break anything....
 
I'll never forget when I was a kid, working in my Dads garage. Doing something to an engine on a stand, slipped, busted knuckles and threw the wrench down at the floor.

That damn thing bounced right back up and hit me in the face!!! :rp
talk about PISSED!!!!!
 
OK, that totally sucks for both of you.

Take a deep breath a couple times and calmly get the tool you need to remove the broken bolt. Be very calm when you try to remove it. If you loose your temper it will be 10 times harder to get out!

I am making an assumption about your engine, 1- it is a SMF.

When you buy the intake gaskets, you need to get Felpro. Then use RTV in the corners of the valley both front and back. when you lay the intake on it, be careful! Set it on straight and make sure you don't push out the corners. You can put RTV around the water jackets if you want. Use just a small bead on both the intake and heads.

When you tighten the bolts down there is a patterne you should use. IIRC it is one inside no right then left angled across from it and then move over one and repeat until all are snugged down. Just snug, not gorilla grip! Then torque in the same pattern.

Let the thing cure before you fire it up too. You should check on the corners as you go too.

I hope this helps!

Mel
 
Thanks guru:) Not trying to be a know it all, but I actually do all of that:) Fel Pro 1250's, Right Stuff on the front and back, a bit more at the corners, a smear of ultra black around the water ports, carb studs on each corner for alignment, and proper torque sequence (which is more of a snail pattern than a criss-cross), then repeat torque sequence in increments a couple hundred times to account for gasket squish and aluminum warping. And seeing as I use Right Stuff on the main seals, cure time is less than it takes me to put everything back together:)

I did get down to Ace after work today to pick up the proper size spiral screw extractor. The fitting made some nasty cracking sounds initially, but with a bit of heat and some Seafoam Deep Creep it came right out. Unfortunately I don't have the proper 3/8" to 3/8" pipe adaptor, so I'm using a plug until I can get one. But at least I can run the car (and I know it doesn't overheat).

AND the girl seems to be pretty understanding. She even called me today to try to cheer me up. So things are looking good:)
 
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