Dave Howerdel

I was in the same vicinity on my 85 yesterday as I replaced the starter. The top starter bolt was bitch as the clutch hose is routed right in front. Oddly, I found that a standard allen wrench worked better to loosen the bolt, I then loosened the lower one, allowing the starter to drop a bit. Then I was able to get the socket on the top one.

I too noticed that the pan bolts were, at best, finger tight. Some were actually loose a few threads! Surprised the hell outta me and I spent a good amiunt of time trying to tighten them all.

AO

Good job Mike! I'll be on the con rod bearings tonight and the rest of it tomorrow (taking the day off).

FYI for the upper starter bolt, I hacked off about 1/2" of my allen wrench, stuck it in the end of the bolt and then used my 8mm gear wrench to turn it. Worked like a charm.

Bill Ball

To do it right and get everything squeaky clean so the Loc-Tite will hold, takes time, so I'm not surprised at how long it took, especially lying on cold concrete or asphalt. You should be good for another 20 years or so.

That upper starter Allen can be a bear to get to. Andrew's tip is good - Gearwrench is your friend. There are all kinds of specialized Gearwrenches and Gearwrench accessories and adapters. They make all kinds of tedious jobs infinitely quicker.

AO

Bill,
On that note, do you think it is sifficient to squirt some brake clean up into the bolt holes in order to get the loc-tite to hold?

Mike Frye

Dave,

Same here, after I took out the first two pan bolts by hand, I was almost expecting to find some missing! Luckily that wasn't the case and considering the number of loose ones, I'm surprised I wasn't leaking more oil. It really wasn't more than slow seeping.
That clutch line is not in a good place at all. I could see that getting crimped by a mechanic trying not to move too much stuff. Mine was in OK condition, but I did take out the pan bolts that were holding it in place and moved it slightly to get to the upper starter bolt.
Bill Ball suggested putting a dab of paint on the pan bolt heads so I could see if they were backing out without having to put a wrench on each one. It was a good idea, and I may do that the next time I'm under there, but it was all I could do to keep track of the loctite, 157 bolts and the two wrenches (gear wrench for some, 1/4" socket with extension for the rest) underneath the car at that point.

Bill Ball

Sorta. Unfortunately oil continues to run down the block surfaces for a day or so after you remove things. So, it's a matter of cleaning, looking for more drips, cleaning, making sure it's still clean, etc. Brake cleaner should work.

SharkSkin

Andrew, the brake cleaner needs a little help to evaporate. The block will be cold by the time you get to this point and there is no air flow in there, so the cleaner doesn't completely evaporate on its own. I used an air nozzle after each blast of brake clean to dry out the threads. If I wasn't borrowing a compressor for this job I would have used canned air. Oil dripping is an issue as Bill points out, but since I was installing studs it was easy enough to stay on top of it and keep the oil away from the couple of holes where this is a problem until the studs were in place.

AO

Thanks for the tips boys. Got the rod bearings out and replaced, and to my untrained eye they looked pretty good. I don't feel like posting pics right now, but will do later. To protect the polished crank, I sliped some rubber hose on the rod studs. Worked like a charm. I forget who to thank for that tip, but thanks anyway.

Tomorrow the pan goes back on, crossmember and related stuff, RMS, and hopefully the new clutch pack. Big day.

SMTCapeCod

Welcome.

AO

Here's the pic of the bearings. Top is #1 bottom is #8. Left is lower, right is upper. #7 has some discoloration, but feels fine. All in all I think they look pretty good.

AO

The pan is back on. Next up is the cross member and all the other crap. Just came in for a quick bite to eat and then I'm back out to get as much as I can get done before the kids come home.

Mike Frye

Don't forget those disks with the hooks on the motor mounts that have to go in before the cross member ! That cost me at least an hour.

AO

DONE! And it's about damn time! I had a couple of issues. The blind oil pan bolts at the fron of the oil pan are a Royal PITA to get to when re-installing. I had 2 that took me 30min each to get it. Also, when I was re-installing the rear cradle for the driver's lower control arm, I had a bolt that got cross threaded. I almost freaked out. Went to me tap & die set, and of course, I didn't have a 12mmx1.5 tap. Went back and carefully threaded and unthreaded the bolt until I cleared the threads. Whew!

Got the clutch installed. Filled it up with oil, and... vroom!

Feels good to have it all done, and I really hope I never have to do it again while on my back. Thanks to everyone for all the tips.

Mike Frye

Andrew,

Good job. So you're on the road, right?

You did a new clutch while you were in there? How hard was that job?

AO

Tonight is the Michigan 928 beer night, so you're damn right it's on the road!

Seeing that this is my 2nd clutch job... Piece-o-cake compared with everything else. The flywheel bolts suck! Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise! RMS, sucks! Getting out wasn't too bad, but getting the new one in... I swore so much I ran out of explatives and had to invent new ones! Just when you think you've got it started, it pops out. PITA!

But it's done... finally.

And why did the clutch fail in the first place? One reason was power. Another reason was a leaky RMS. But I think another culprit is the drain in the valley. I need to re-check if I have any oil in the valley. If I do, I'll be pulling the supercharger and re-doing the oil filler plate. But that will be a breeze compared to what I just went through.