Damn that sounds ugly. I pulled my drivers side valve cover off and there's coolant sitting in 3 or 4 of the little machined "eyebrows" as well as the corner of the back fo the head. I'll see if I can reach the block plug from up above, if not that's going to be a real hassle! I've got the header off though, so hopefully I can get at it.

Do I really have to have the engine warm? I'd have to hook all kinds of things back up then...can I just drain it and blow the air through? What a mess this project has become.

I've also got 3 roller tips on my rocker arms that have worn and have bronze patterns showing through. If this stupid FTP that my buddy has was working I'd upload the pics

Nate, do you remember if on yours, drivers side block plug, the motor mount bolt that goes front-to-back, did you have the bolt head? Or the protruding bolt threads sticking out that end? I've got the bolt threads, don't know if that's the problem, either way I'll try this box end wrench since my headers are off.

I hope I don't have coolant mixed in with my oil throughout the engine.

I should sit in a corner and start crying now I guess.

 

My motor mount thru-bolt runs front to rear, so the threads are at the rear of the mount. There was plenty of room to get the wrench on there. If the offset doesn't fit, try the open end. Like I said, a ratcheting box-end (Gearwrench) works wonders.

 

Can I just do the upper bolts? I don't wanna have to take my exhaust and steering knuckle off again... :-/

 

Thanks for the idea Nate, I'll give that a shot tonight probably.

Euclid, what do you mean by the "uppers", you mean just the bolts that are UNDER the valvecover inside the head? The answer to that is no...all of the external head bolts go through coolant passages too, as evidenced by the coolant running down my block. I didn't want to take my headers off either 2 hours of knucklebusting for that ordeal.

When you undo your steering, take that 'knuckle' deal, and wire brush the inside areas where they slide over the steering shaft and the rack/pinion. Clean up those same things with a wire brush as well. I had no problem putting mine back on.

I feel your pain brotha.

I take it you haven't fired it up yet?

 

Why torque it in 3 steps if only one bolt was removed at a time? I can see doing that when they're all removed to get an even loading.

 

interesting..i also didnt use thread sealant. I actually just put a dab of oil on the bolt and torqued her down. It's been about a year and i havent had any problems yet.

 

Quick 96Z,

Did you use ARP studs? if not thats probably why. I called my machine shop today and asked them about this. They advised me studs leak a lot. ARP bolts don't and that they use the GM thread sealer

 

ah ha, all the pieces come together. Yea, i used ARP bolts.