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If you are having trouble with rounding off bolt heads (especially head bolts), you better work on perfecting your technique and think seriously about getting a new set of head bolts (think ARP).
I did get ARP. My issue is only on one bolt where the socket actually broke (#10 driver), which contributed to a slight amount of rounding.
Although I looked again at your site, and realized that I over-torqued the long bolts to 80 ftlbs. I guess the question is now what do I do about it.
Last edited by It's Cochese!; Oct 16, 2023 at 11:40 AM.
Fel-Pro stated the gaskets would be compromised, so I ordered new ones. Loosening the head bolts after work, will swap gaskets Wednesday. Shouldn’t be too far off schedule for next weekend.
Another thread prompted me to ask this: the Opti I bought is vented at the bottom, but obviously the car didn’t come with that provision. It does not appear to have a fresh air inlet.
Trying to figure out the best approach here, and if I hook up vacuum where should I draw from.
You need an inlet and an outlet. It won't work without both. There has to be clean, filtered, MAF air flowing in, since the vent ends up in the intake manifold.
The Petris vented cap for example has a single connection on the cap, and a plastic “triple tee” that pushes into holes on the bottom of the main body.
You need an inlet and an outlet. It won't work without both. There has to be clean, filtered, MAF air flowing in, since the vent ends up in the intake manifold.
The Petris vented cap for example has a single connection on the cap, and a plastic “triple tee” that pushes into holes on the bottom of the main body.
Interesting. I see a few Optis out there that say they are vented, and I don’t see the very obvious inlet nipple. I guess they are putting a vented cap on a “non-vented” body?
There are 3 holes in the bottom of the stock Opti base casting. Some people hook them up as “drains” in case liquid gets inside, but I never bought into that. So, technically there is an inlet for air. But it’s not filtered air that has passed through the MAF sensor. Air entering through the “drain” holes could include moisture from splashes, coolant drips, etc..
Since that air eventually ends up in the combustion chambers, it needs fuel or the cylinder will run lean. Passing through the MAF sensor makes that happen. It's a small vacuum leak if it hasn’t been measured by the MAF. Probably nothing beyond the capabilities of the long term fuel corrections.
The main function of the vent is to remove ozone the is generated by the high voltage spark at the tip of the rotor. The ozone is extremely corrosive. When I opened my original unvented semi-functional unvented Opti at 60K miles it was full of rust, and the rust particles were blinding the light beam in the optical sensor. GM realized they screwed it up, and changed to the vented Opti in 1995.
The Petris uses the holes in the Opti base, but expect that you will hook up the vent line from the 90° rubber inlet elbow. MSD adds one vent on the replacement cap, and a second connection on a black plastic separator plate that sits between the cap and the base.
I don't suppose you can verify the passenger head has the "steam pipe" hole up front blocked off when it's already torqued down and the accessory bracket back in place?
I don't suppose you can verify the passenger head has the "steam pipe" hole up front blocked off when it's already torqued down and the accessory bracket back in place?
Nevermind, I can see the block off. I set the valves at 1/4 turn past, trying to decide if I should go to 1/2 or 3/4.
Intake and maybe exhaust manifolds going back on today. Looking like we are starting up tomorrow.
The car is reassembled. Unfortunately I could not get it started up, I was getting a heavy fuel smell so maybe I'm back to checking spark. When I had to pay for new heads, I did end up returning the MAF and ICM. I have a new ICM coming tomorrow, we ran out of light.
These hard plastic lines under the hood are very brittle. I broke the EVAP return line once, and the EGR solenoid to manifold line twice. I've temporarily mended both, but I'll need to look at replacements.
Car will start. What happens after isn’t so great.
Smoking from both exhaust manifolds. It did this before all the work I put in with the head gasket. It’s wispy smoke more than billowy. I’ll attach a picture. My thoughts were bad piston rings, and less likely bad manifolds. I only have one bolt that went on the passenger side, and two on the driver. New gaskets, but I might not even be getting a good seal. May also be dumping unburnt fuel I suppose. I guess with the age and wlegate of the motor I’m assuming the worst.
Car will go straight to 3k RPM. I’m fairly positive I have an exhaust leak from the EGR line (snapped in two places). Will replace tomorrow. Also going to check for any other leaks. The car took a ton of gas pedal input to get started the first time, but then started normally after that.
Biggest problem though is the indicated temp. Car will almost immediately redline the temp gauge, making the other problems take a backseat. It was doing the same thing without coolant, so perhaps I have air pockets in spite of following the refill procedure to the best of my ability. Going to try and drain as much coolant as I can and replace with water, including doing the heater core flush procedure. No heat from HVAC in the limited time.
I have stretched my mechanical skills to a point that they can’t go much further with my space and tools. I’d like to at least get the temp fixed so I can drive it around the neighborhood once. It would also help to get to the mechanic to do a leak down.
Last edited by It's Cochese!; Oct 25, 2023 at 08:53 PM.
I'm kinda talking to myself now, but I noticed I actually have a 93 throttle body, and maybe the block as well. The OPSU isn't on the rear of the intake, and my VIN wouldn't indicate an early model really (10/12/93 build date).
Going to test the ECT to see if it is giving accurate readings, and go from there. Will use shoebox's testing method, and a laser thermometer to see how hot the head is actually getting vs indicated. Next week I will try to get all the coolant out and replace with water.
Shouldn't make any difference. All LT1 blocks (casting ending in "327") are identical, EXCEPT the blocks used in the Corvette had 4-bolt mains, all others were 2-bolt. A few of the 4-bolt main blocks apparently found their way into the Camaro/Firebird when an engine was replaced under warranty.
The 93 throttle body will have a pin on the cable quadrant for the transmission TV cable. It will also have a "screw in" idle air control valve with a square connector, while the 94 and up IAC is mounted with screws and has a flat connector.
The "early" 94 engines still had the oil pressure sensor above the air filter.
You're right, it shouldn't make a huge difference. I just wasn't sure with how many F-bodies were made in 94, and the last six on my VIN, if it was considered an "early" 94. I'll check the block next time I have room to get under. The coolant plate under the throttle body for sure has the downturn coolant pipe on the passenger side, I'd have to check on the other items. For sure a 94+ intake, and all the accessories are 94-spec. Would just be curious as another point of reference in the car history.
I verified with a laser thermometer that the heads are overheating, I'll need to completely flush out the cooling system and start over. I'm also considering putting in a 160 t-stat at the same time. Wasn't really getting any fluid coming out of the water pump to the radiator, nor did it ever get really warm. Since it is sitting on a hill, and I'm not confident I can get it home to a level surface, I may jack up the back wheels and make do.
