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Hey Ed,
Once you get the heads off, are you anticipating being able to physically see a blown head gasket? (i.e like I was able to see when I pulled the head off of my 1956 Chevy 265 cubic inch engine some 45 years ago????) Or are you expecting the breach to be so small that it will be all but invisible to the eye?As to Va Beach — it is much more important to “get it right” than cut corners to make it to the show……there is always Carlisle in May, 2015……..!!!!!!Luck with the disassembly tomorrowDefinitely … Good Luck, Ed.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Ed, are you taking the heads to a machine shop, just because you have the engine out and therefore it’s easy? I’m not familiar with Subaru but are you expecting the heads to be warped?
Anyway, I wish you the best.
Engine on stand.
uhh. Had to make the stand twice because it was too tall the first time at 36 inches, a height I chose simply because I happened to have four 2x4s at that length exactly & wanted to save cuts. Could not lift the engine high enough to drop it on that without major adjustments.Some of you will remember that I have a proper steel engine stand already. But I can’t bolt the Soob to it without pulling the flywheel off, along with the KEP plate and the rest. The stand is also only a three-legger and it requires quite the array of washers to make it work with the soob engine bolt pattern. So I judged it easier to make a new table for it than do all that rigamorole.Roy: I am not expecting the heads to be warped. I’m pretty sure they are not warped much, at least, as I can turn both cams by hand. But they do need to be cleaned, checked and resurfaced. Spec for these is something like .0002 inches, or anyway less than I could expect to see clearly doing the old light-behind-a-straightedge thing. And the Suby forums are lousy with dumbkopfs who did their gaskets without taking the heads to a machinist to make sure they’re in spec. They always report success right after they’re done, followed by re-doing the job about six months to a year later. Some of you may recall my agony about this when I first pulled the engine out of the Legacy. I would have done the head gaskets then as a prophylactic measure were the job straightforward and simple for the average 350-Chevy guy.It looked too risky then, when I either didn’t have a bad head gasket or didn’t know I did.For $300 or whatever it’s going to be, I’d rather wait that extra two weeks now.edsnova2014-09-21 14:59:32
The motor will sit nicely on the top of a 55 gallon drum. Smart thinking to resurface the heads.
With David coming to VA Beach my stuff will be in his car. Wanna ride shotgun?Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Gave up on getting the heads off tonight. Couldn’t loosen the first bolt even with a 6-ft pry bar. Started stripping the flats that way (i.e. “CLINK!” “Ahh, got it. Oh crap!”) so I stopped. Then I noticed I’d forgotten to remove the cam sprockets so I shouldn’t be taking the heads off anyway yet. First I have to reinstall the timing belt. Again. (damn I’m gonna be an expert on that procedure yet). Then I have to devise some way to seize the engine so I can loosen those wheels. Then take all that nonsense off, and THEN figure out how the heck to loosen the head bolts without stripping the bolt heads.
It’s 9 pm and I’m done for the weekend.Bill: Nice offer. Def maybe but you mind if I ponder it for a day or two?edsnova2014-09-21 21:08:13
Ed, forgive me, but you are using a 6pt socket, right? No 12pt stuff…and you may have more luck with an air impact driver. Sometimes even the hand-held variety where you whack it with a hand sledge will break them free.
Re: seizing the engine, VW has a cam like pawl that locks into the flywheel gear. Might work on a Subi. Else, loosen and remove two of the flywheel bolts and bolt in a nice long piece of angle iron.
Thanks, Roy. No, 12-pt socket. Because they are 12-pt bolt heads. Will get back after it tonight.
Hey Ed,
…if you take Bill up on his offer to ride shotgun to Va Beach, you can drive Emma around the block, over the river, and through the woods and compare/contrast a BCW with a big-ass, bad-ass (maybe stupid-ass as well) 2332 air-cooled with a modern, water-cooled, boxer-powered one…….hope to see you thereUpdate: I got one head bolt off tonight. 11 to go. Used an open wrench and a hammer.
(Before that I learned this: a hammer drill doesn’t work like an impact driver, even though it feels similar when it’s drilling through concrete. I love that I can still learn new things at my age.)Regarding VA Beach: I’m out. I really appreciate everyone’s encouragement and especially Bill’s kind offer of a ride in the fastest TD (so far) that we know of. But I’ve gotten to the point where I need to adjust my priorities. I’ve driven myself half-mad all summer chasing gremlins in this car, and it’s been no fun. Mostly it’s been no fun because I set for myself these deadlines and tried like hell to make them. The result was a lot of unneeded stress and plenty of neglect of more important things. A hobby should not do this to a man, and I’ve learned my lesson.On the weekend of the Air & Auto Classic I will be with my wife. We’ll go kayaking if the weather’s good, and at some point I’ll think of you guys, flying around in some old barn-stormer or bench racing at the hotel bar.But, for now, I’m out. I’ll still post here regularly, of course, and I’ll still work on Bridget in my spare time. But she’d now gone from number 1 on my priority list to like number 4, after family and even work.I’m pretty sure I’ll have the car back together and trustable in time for Carlisle, and I will look forward even more than usual to seeing you all again then. Next year’s VA Beach run will be a must-go, and between those two trips I hope we’ll see a couple other long cruises, at least.Till then I have a lot of other chores to run after. Hope you have a great Air and Auto this year. Hoist a cold one in my honor, please, and then drag my name through the mud!First dibs on Ed’s cold one.
You will be missed.Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Four more bolts loose. Four to go.
Unfortunately, the four I have left are the middle bolts. They are torqued on harder than the ones I’ve been able to break loose. And I’ve already hit them all many times with the impact driver.I quit tonight after sledge-hammering my left hand.Thinking of just loading the whole bastard on the truck and driving it over to these guys. Might cost me another hundred or two but I might save way more in medical bills.My fun-per-$ ratio this year has been slightly below par.Ed: You might try to tighten the bolts you can’t loosen. Sounds crazy but sometimes when the bolts aren’t breaking loose turning them to tighten will be just enough to break the bond and allow you to loosen them . All that is needed is a small amount of torque over what is called for. Saw it used in the military avation and also in civilian automotive mechanics. Also is an old timers trick.
Ed, if you do take it to Agile, you can have them install that turbo that’s been in the back of your mind since day one. Yahooee.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Thanks, George. Tried that & will prob try it again. As for you, Bill… I know your game. And it won’t work!
Beware of using RedneckTorque.That’s where you crank down until the bolt breaks and then back off a quarter turn.Yep!
Neighbor’s got a proper air-powered impact wrench. I’m thinking about loading the engine on my truck and driving it over to his driveway tomorrow.Seriously though: sheesh!Heads are off. Dan, the neighbor, rolled his compressor down the street and into my garage and handed me his impact wrench. I bripped the bolts with that for a minute or two, and they still wouldn’t budge.
Then Dan got out my breaker bar and got one loose, then another. He handed me that and, with him holding the engine still, I got the last two loose.
The inside of the engine looks pretty good. The driver’s side head gasket had some fraying I suspect might have been related to my problem. Not entirely sure though.For the next time (if it applies): Recently, I was trying to get a stubborn bolt off. Impact wrench and air compressor at my max of 140#. No joy. Changed from 5/16″ diameter air hose to 1/2″. “Bripped” it right off.
Hose diameter really matters.Good info, Roy. This hose looked thick, but I don’t know what its ID was.
Dropped off the heads at Agile, an office full of racing Subarus.
The turbo intercooler on the blue car is just about twice as big as Bridget’s radiator. That is what 650 hp looks like.I told them I will be very happy with my stock 135.edsnova2014-09-27 16:40:31
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