spring maintenance.... (what has jewels be up to this week?).....

[jewels.]

Originally posted by gr8scott51
Jewels, you're still on our list here at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Signing bonus, moving fees, good pay. I got Ackattack to move from Kansas - come on up!!

Scott

he he - i just *knew* you'd reply
i'll send ya that transcript i promised, along with my resume!

jewels.

[gr8scott51]

pm sent.

[Longhorn Man]

Lookin good Jewels, I use the Fell Pro manifold gaskets on manifolds, and on headers alike. Never had a problem.
Don't forget the anti-seize compound when the studs and bolts go on.
Have you gotten an estimate on the work done?

[Dean]

Don't forget this little metal sleeve when you connect your pipes up to the manifold. This will prevent those pesky donuts from blowing out all the time. GM did this from the factory and they even list the part in the parts book. I make my own. I've never had a blown out donut since an old timer told me about this.

The sleeve and donut slip down into your header pipe before you connect it to the manifold.

[Dean]

another with the donut on it. The whole thing goes down in your header pipes and rest on the flange.

[Dean]

Here is another with all the details used to connect the side with the heat riser. Flange, heat riser, sleeve, donut, gasket and brass nuts.

[Blue Beard]

For a $20 camera, looks like it still gets good pictures.......

Off center photos aren't the camera.........

Did the manifolds get completed...?

[gr8scott51]

I'm kinda worried about the stainless steel bolts. I was always taught to use grade 8 steel studs/bolts and brass nuts on steel exhaust systems.

[jewels.]

Originally posted by Longhorn Man
Lookin good Jewels, I use the Fell Pro manifold gaskets on manifolds, and on headers alike. Never had a problem.
Don't forget the anti-seize compound when the studs and bolts go on.
Have you gotten an estimate on the work done?

i always get estimates..... i know that we ran into some trouble with the bolts at Bill's, so the labor may be a little higher there.... but those bolts have been an absolute pain....

as for meineke - they arent chargin me much - just to bolt and unbolt the manifolds... he he

it'll be good - dont worry - besides - i'm never EVER picky about money when it comes to my truck... thats the one thing i NEVER skimp on ...

Originally posted by Blue Beard
For a $20 camera, looks like it still gets good pictures.......
Off center photos aren't the camera.........
Did the manifolds get completed...?

well, in this case, it actually IS the camera's fault --- see ---- there is no LED screen, so you are reliant on the camera to take the pics... which means the aperature and lense arent lined up exactly (mechanically) with the viewfinder.... get it? (this used to be the case with old cheap 110 cameras and such)

Originally posted by Dean
Flange, heat riser, sleeve, donut, gasket and brass nuts.

hmmm, ok - i was aware of the donut, the gasket and the nuts, but not aware of the Flange, the heat riser or the sleeve..... are these three necessary with manifolds? or just headers? and how do you feel about the whole brass nuts versus stainless steel nuts? i have stainless at the moment... will brass be better?

Hey Scott, my stainless steel bolts ARE marked grade 8.....

thanks for the info Dean.... i may take another trip to the parts store....

jewels.

[Terry Peerson]

Hi Jewels,

There is no such thing as Grade-8 Stainlless-Steel. I guarantee they will break on you. If not when they are tightened, then they will break on the run! Stick with real Grade-8 and don't forget to use a good Anit-Seize!

Do you stay pretty much on the MO side? I have never seen your truck around town. Of course, I stay on the KS side mostly. Maybe I'll get to see your truck someday before you leave beautiful KC.

Good Luck!

Terry

[jewels.]

Originally posted by Terry Peerson
Hi Jewels,

There is no such thing as Grade-8 Stainlless-Steel. I guarantee they will break on you. If not when they are tightened, then they will break on the run! Stick with real Grade-8 and don't forget to use a good Anit-Seize!

Do you stay pretty much on the MO side? I have never seen your truck around town. Of course, I stay on the KS side mostly. Maybe I'll get to see your truck someday before you leave beautiful KC.

Good Luck!

Terry

hmm - i'm just going by what the box said.... it said "Grade 8 Stainless Steel" --- but maybe that was just a marketing ploy? not sure....

yes, i stay on the missouri side, unless i have a reason to get over to kansas --- been there three or four times since i've been here.... but i'm up in the northland - between northKC and gladstone.... i must say that i frequent the raytown and independence area a lot compared to kansas! we should meet up (as soon as i get her runnin!)

jewels.

[jewels.]

ok - i did some research, and you are right.....

i am not going to be able to use stainless steel bolts in the manifold..... they are too brittle.... they may not rust, but because they have nickel in them, they are more likely to break - they wont flex or expand when heated.....

so....

i'm returning the stainless, and going with grade8 all the way around.....

Dean, i went to the parts store, and looked in some manuals and stuff, and it looks like most of the things you listed i already have access to.... i was just a little lost there for a minute..... i probably wont put the sleeve on, as i would have to cut the existing pipe, but other than that, i will be using a steel donut, new gaskets, and that other piece- whatever its called..... as it turns out, i dont have a heat riser on my manifold, so i dont need any of the stuff associated with it....

i stopped by Bill's shop again today, and took a few more pics.... he got that bolt out of the manifold, and he torched out the remaining studs --- woohoo!!!

here is a pic of the holes.....

[jewels.]

and another.... sorry about the hair and all in the camera

[jewels.]

and this is the paint i used to coat them yesterday .... its a high temp paint to 1500 degrees.....

makes em look cast iron....

[jewels.]

we put a straight edge on the manifolds, and they are not warped at all on the block side, so we didnt need to resurface them.... which is good news!

the holes that were created after torchin the previous owner's bolts out have been the latest round of discussion....

bill thinks he can put in some studs, and braize them into place so that they will hold..... so he is workin on that this afternoon.... i am gonna go back and watch some of it too.... fun fun!

then, with luck, i can start to put the truck back together tomorrow....

lets see...
antiseize compound
felpro gaskets
grade 8 bolts (12 of those)
grade 8 nuts or brass nuts (6 of those)
two donuts
two new gaskets
hmmm, i wonder if i have forgotten anything....

here are some pics of bill's shop...
great guy!

jewels.

[jewels.]

pic 2

oh, and BTW, there are some tradeoffs to how i'm doing things here.... sure i could have had someone else doing the work... like just had meineke ship the manifolds out to a shop, and had them put them back on.... but, i wanted the work to be done by someone who has experience with old cars..... and who knows what the work will entail..... and who will work with me at the same time as well..... i like to get my hands dirty

Bill is giving me a great deal here... he isnt charging me anything for the work that we are doing.... very little on parts either... and we are tryin to work it in inbetween his other jobs.... so its a trade off.... it take a lot of time because the job must be squeezed in somewhere.... but i dont mind... i would rather wait, make sure its done right, and take my time... plus pay a lot less for the work.... so, if you are wondering why its takin a long time, both BIll and I are takin are time at it.... going slow


jewels.

[Dean]

Sounds good. You shouldn't have to cut your existing pipes to use that little sleeve. It slips down inside your existing pipes and then the donut goes around the little part that sticks out. I wish I had an old pipe to show it assembled.

The metal donut would be the 2nd best choise.

I'd use the studs and brass nuts if you can. I'd stay away from the stainless.

And use anti-seize heavily. You will thank yourself the next time.

Usually you can get those manifolds studs out without torching them clear out especially if you have enought sticking out to get a vise grip on it. I use my torch to get the area glowing hot then vice grips on the stud quickly.

Good Luck! I hope to have my exhaust on in a week. I'm going with all stainless front to back. Should be lifetime but $$

[Yellow Cheyenne]

From what it looks like in the one photo, the studs were being heated instead of the manifold. The heat should be applied to the manifold (I also like to heat them until they are glowing red-never broke a stud when done this way) when trying to remove a rusted stud.

If she wants to add the sleeve for aligning the donut, she would have to cut the first part of her exhaust pipe off where it connects to the manifold and have a new piece installed. In order to use the sleeve the first 2" or so of the exhaust needs to be expanded in order for the sleeve to slide down into. I ran into this on mine when I had dual exhaust installed. They didn't expand the pipe before forming the flange, so I had to change to steel donuts to avoid destroying the donuts.

I've also started having the exhaust manifolds planed at the point that it attaches to the head. By doing this, you don't have to use exhaust gaskets at all.

What type of engineering are you doing?

Randy

[jewels.]

Originally posted by Yellow Cheyenne
From what it looks like in the one photo, the studs were being heated instead of the manifold. The heat should be applied to the manifold (I also like to heat them until they are glowing red-never broke a stud when done this way) when trying to remove a rusted stud.

If she wants to add the sleeve for aligning the donut, she would have to cut the first part of her exhaust pipe off where it connects to the manifold and have a new piece installed. In order to use the sleeve the first 2" or so of the exhaust needs to be expanded in order for the sleeve to slide down into. I ran into this on mine when I had dual exhaust installed. They didn't expand the pipe before forming the flange, so I had to change to steel donuts to avoid destroying the donuts.

I've also started having the exhaust manifolds planed at the point that it attaches to the head. By doing this, you don't have to use exhaust gaskets at all.

What type of engineering are you doing?

Randy

hmm - then yes, i think we did it backwards then, because we were applyin heat to the studs.... oh well, a little too late to change that now .....

i think i have decided to not worry about the sleeve, and not have the exhaust cut for the very reason you mention.....

yes, i check about having the manifolds planed on the block side, but they are surprisingly straight.... we looked at them, and i dont think we will do anything to that side since they are so straight!

i'm a mechanical engineer.... lookin for a job in design, computer aided design or graphics.... i have experience in all of those, as well as extended experience in manufacturing and operations...

jewels.

[Yellow Cheyenne]

I have a connection for possible hook-ups in software design/engineering, but I don't think he places mechanical engineers. I'll ask. Good luck with the job hunt and the manifolds.

Randy

[72superBB]

When & where is the board meet you were referring to?

thanks

Ron

[jewels.]

the new and upcoming board meet is

HERE (CLICK HERE)

and the ohio meet from last year, which was a total blast, is

HERE (CLICK HERE)

jewels.

[jewels.]

Hi again, this is just an update!

On Friday, and part of Saturday morning, I learned how to braize in the studs on the manifolds..... Well, for my first attempt at it, I dont think they turned out too bad..... huh.... but they DID look at little crooked, cause I had no template to go by....

so here are some pics with the studs in place....

pic 1

[jewels.]

another pic 2

[jewels.]

and the top side, where i tried to fill in a bit....

pic 3