Bill Ball

Some of that plumbing is AC fuel cooler lines, hard fuel lines to dampner. Some MYs are more obstructed than others, but I don't see how you remove this stuff without making for alot more work. I did loosen the heater control valve and swing it to one side, but I didn't remove it as I didn't want a coolant flood.

heinrich

Pulling the cooler is very easy ....

Bill Ball

You mean lossening its clamps and moving it out of the way without screwing up the AC lines? Oh. I will study that next time. This is the one part of TT job that was annoying. Thanks, H'man.

SharkSkin

One of the issues is the way the casting around those bolts likes to push the wrench off the bolt head. That gear-ratchet would eliminate that issue, but the handle would have to be bent to an S-shape and extended to really work properly. I did see those other wrenches Bill mentioned, but they don't seem to be a huge improvement over what we were using already.

H, removing plumbing is not always a viable option. Depends on how the owner feels about it, and I wouldn't have suggested it to Matt -- It wouldn't have been helpful given where we were at and how he seems to feel about mods at this stage of the game. With all that stuff in there it seems to be the passenger side that is the bigger PITA.

heinrich

Bill:
The fuel lines are the PITA, and those are no biggie on and off. AC lines can stay in-place. This assumes ac is working and charged. Else just pull the whole shooting match.

Da Skin:
Trust me ... driver's side is the challenge - there is NO room for a wrench between firewall and bolt. So, the wrench you suggest may be good for the passenger's side (if its wide round head fits between head and housing which is iffy) .... but fageddabout the driver's side, there no socket and no gear wrench will fit, only open or boxes. A small (shortie) 19mm is great there, with leverage on a long one.

Bill Ball

True, I found the driver side to have inherently less arc available. The passenger side in my 89 was not too troublesome, but in Matt's 91 there was a big, brittle feeling harness in the way that I did not want to crack to bits. I don't remember that on my 89, or it was more pliable and just moved out of the way. The main thing I would like is longer offset box wrenches, preferably Gearwrench type. I have one that must be 18" long, but even it requries creative use of "extensions". I think with the right custom wrench, this would be much easier.

heinrich

Bill, if you got a foot-long 19 and bent it inward by say 45deg RIGHT at the head, you'd be fine.

SharkSkin

Hmmm... I wonder if there is that much plumbing difference between 87 & 91? We had the DS bolt in & torqued in no time, IIRC we fought the PS for a good 10 minutes. I think I'm a bit young for alzheimer's ... Bill, lil' help?

Bill Ball

Eh, they were both a pain in their own way.

SharkSkin

True. Seriously, holes in the firewall would be just the ticket for accessing them on a track car...

Bill Ball

Hmmmm....

GregBBRD

I use a Snap-on wrench that has a socket on one end instead of a "box" end. The socket head swivels to any angle, which enables one to "dodge" anything in the way and then change the angle again when something else in the way shows up. You can put another wrench onto the open end of this wrench to make it as long as is needed to loosen the bolts. If you want, I can get the Snap-on number off of the tool tomorrow when I get to work. I have a complete set of these things in every size and use them often.

greg brown

SharkSkin

I know what you're talking about -- my dad had(has) a set of those, and I know they would have saved my butt repeatedly over the years. Pricey though. Thanks for the nudge, it's about time I treated myself to a set -- I found them at Sears (here) and then found the same set on ebay for $154.

Bill Ball

Ew, me too! Thanks, Greg and Dave.

SharkSkin

Matt, what is the I.D. of the small holes on the circlip? Just curious whether the big set of 90° tips on these snap-ring pliers would work, or if we would have to go with the mediums....