Supernaut72

Well, got the socket and for some reason THIS 17/32" socket doesn't want to do anything but round the bolt. Next time I'll try hammering a throwaway 14mm or 13mm socket onto it, or break out the vice grips. Alternatively, maybe unhooking the driver's side motor mount and lifting the motor on that side would give me the clearance to get the head+manifold out of there?

I found a much better position to get the cylinder head out without killing my back or dropping it on my fingers, standing on the driver's front corner of the frame and the upper control arm so that I can lift with my legs rather than my back while hunched over the fender, but that exhaust flange keeps hitting the engine block and getting stuck no matter what approach I try. Also I might be heading to the "parts for sale" section for a whole used thermal valve assembly before this is done, the tweaked part of it (I believe the shaft that the thermal coil hooks around?) broke off with only minor convincing today. Not sure yet how disastrous that's going to be for me.

Anyways, after some quick attempts to get that sucker out of there, rain started coming down pretty hard so I called it quits for today and for however many days until it lets up and dries out, guess that's nature telling me to take a break before I burn myself out on this car and its seemingly impossible problems. I am getting there fast.

Oldsmaniac

I have been down this road before with the exhaust manifold bolt. The 6 point 14 mm socket hammered on works well, 3/8 drive. I have had success with a 6 inch pipe wrench on the head of the bolt but there is not a lot to grab there but i have also chiseled off the thick washer that should be there and this gives more room for the pipe wrench jaws. I have also used heat on the area with a propane torch to help loosen. I have also experienced bolt breakage when all has failed. As for the exhaust heat riser valve it is not necessary in my opinion and the flapper can be removed and the shaft left in place. The exhaust manifold can be removed with starter off but if the engine mounts have sunken a lot you may need to raise the engine a little.

Supernaut72

Thanks, really good tips for if we encounter the same problem on the passenger's side. I guess if you work on enough of these cars you wind up seeing just about everything, especially when removing parts that usually don't come off very often.

Thankfully, we got it off today, though it was with the help of my friend's creativity, a hammer and a block of wood to swivel the manifold while holding the bolt with channel locks to help work it loose. Same trick of his that we used to get a thermostat housing with a really, really badly stuck and rounded bolt off of a Buick a while back, actually. It came off, though the bolt seemed to be frozen firmly to the ear of the manifold, and when it finally decided to start loosening it took the upper end of the ear with it (no broken bolt though, imagine that). Also, found that the dipstick tube is in fact broken, but it really is easy to get to with the cylinder head out of the way, and has a real good flange piece I might be able to pry up on for removal.

The smog problem is indeed the exhaust valve, it weeped seafoam without resistance when I did a fluid test and it has a small split in the face of it. I'll try to get pictures up when I can get some good ones. With the head off we got a much better look at the cylinder bores, even if our lighting wasn't ideal. Even in fading light they all looked pretty good for 120k, could even see some cross-hatching in the flashlight beam. Tomorrow that friend needs a lift to buy some rifle ammo nearby where the car's parked, so we'll likely be going back by and doing the passenger's side head tomorrow.

Good advice on the exhaust riser, especially since most of the NOS assemblies I find are around $200. With the broken manifold ear, I'm probably in for a new manifold if a good, solid weld can't be made, so I guess we'll have to see how that goes first and foremost.

Also, learned today that a friend of that friend who builds performance V8s for a hobby may be able to help me get the valve job done. I won't say I'm out of the woods on this yet, but it seems I've finally caught something of a break.

oldcutlass

Since the heads are off a valve job is probably a good idea.

Supernaut72

Yeah, I guess it comes down to how easily this friend can find or grind or "replicate" the valves that we're replacing. If it's cost-effective enough then that would definitely be the best option while everything's apart, all comes down to how much I can afford and how close the originals really are to being worn beyond their limits.

The only valves I can find in the local parts stores are $11 apiece and are not the correct length for this application, a bit longer than the numbers given in the book, possibly for a Starfire or a 400? Though listed for my car with a 2-bbl 425. There's one parts place that only carries engine parts that I'll be checking with tomorrow, but if they don't have anything then I'm not sure what to do besides see if we can't take slightly oversized valves and cut and grind them down to the proper specs.

Supernaut72

The other head is free now, unfortunately the crossover pipe to manifold bolts snapped off so I'm going to have to get those out somehow. Much easier with it out of the car, though.

Definitely looks like someone's been here before, but not recently. The center bolt is already gnarled badly despite having the same patina as everything else, and the manifold has a bunch of small divots on its broad side just below that bolt, as if somebody was hammering on it with a regular household hammer at some point long ago. At least it doesn't look like Mr. Dingus did any serious damage, but it'll be a fun time trying to get this mangled bolt out without cracking this manifold's upper ear as well.

Still haven't spoken to that guy about the valve job, and didn't have the time to go talk to the people at the engine part supplier today, but I'm still open to any and all leads for new (or good used), correct valves for this engine.

The specs given in the book for this engine's valves are:

Intake: 2.000 head dia.; 4.557 length; 45-degree seat angle; Forged letter "02A" "S2A"
Exhaust: 1.625 head dia.; 4.557 length; 45-degree seat angle; Forged letter "E2" "T2"

I see that Mondello has some that are close if not exact, but I'm not equipped to shell out ~$300 for just valves. Since I'm not going for performance and I'm not going to be abusing this car, I can't justify that much just for valves, unfortunately.

Sugar Bear

Try posting the valves needed in the parts wanted sub-forum on this site. Someone will likely have good used ones. Good luck!

Supernaut72

Great idea, got a want ad up now. Also went fishing for a dipstick tube and maybe a manifold and crossover pipe. Guess we'll see what's available!

Supernaut72

Well, it's been a while, but I can happily report that the engine's back together and all went well. Found a GM part # for the valves I needed, and then found a deal on a set of NORS valves under the interchange part number S2496 (exhaust) and S2497 (intake). Measured up perfectly and went in without a hitch.

Fishing out the broken dipstick tube was probably one of the most challenging parts of the reassembly, but I was finally able to get it out by threading a bolt into the broken piece that was just big enough to cut threads in, then lock some cheap vice grips vertically over the bolt head, put some channel locks around the adjuster of the vice grips, and pry up on the whole mess with a pry bar. Came out without too much fuss. The new one I found was a chromed example, which I had to grind a bit on the upper pressure ring with a dremel before tapping it down with a 3/8" open-ended wrench and hammer, with the starter removed.

Got everything back together after three solid days of work with half an hour to get down to the emissions testing station, so since my timing and dwell were dead-on I decided to run with a ballpark fuel/air tuning that left it a little on the rich side with the engine now firing on all cylinders. Even so, the car passed on HC about as well as my old Ford used to with its overhauled 289, just with the carbon monoxide a little on the high side. Got her fully tuned now and she runs great, though on cold-weather cold starts the engine misfires like crazy so I'm going to have to investigate the choke pull-off. Otherwise, very smooth sailing.

Thanks once again to everyone who lent advice here, I'm very glad to have brought this car back to life and I figure a community like this was the best place to both share my experiences and learn from people who've been there & done that. Time to go for a spin!

oldcutlass

Now on to the next project...

Greg Rogers

Way to go! Good job. Glad to here it all turned out well. Your luck is like mine sometimes..