Engine Head Bolts

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Teletom
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2016 5:43 pm
Your car is a: 1978 spider 1800

Engine Head Bolts

Postby Teletom » Wed May 10, 2017 11:39 am

Hey everyone, finally putting my 77' 1800 together with a couple questions.

I bought new head bolts of course and will be putting the head on tonight, I will torque it down to spec this weekend. One thing though, the engine was rebuilt well before I got it and it looks like they broke a head bold so the increased the hole size in the block but didnt helocoil it? I have the stud that was in it and just want to make sure there not too much risk in me putting it back in?

Also should I use copper spray on the head gasket? Anything I should take special car in doing while putting it all back together? How do I get the dang water pump pulley off to put on the new water pump, any tips on easily loosening those bolts would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

scrapironchef
Posts: 155
Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:06 pm
Your car is a: 79 Spider
Location: Richmond, CA

Re: Engine Head Bolts

Postby scrapironchef » Wed May 10, 2017 8:37 pm

Can't help with your other questions but use your old fan belt and a pair of visegrips to hold the water pump pulley while you wrench out the bolts.

samakijoe
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:56 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Fiat 124
Location: Original Washington (1776) NC

Re: Engine Head Bolts

Postby samakijoe » Wed May 10, 2017 8:42 pm

I don't have any ideas about the head bolts but I have a couple ideas about getting the bolts off the water pump pulley.

If you still have the belt installed you could place a "turn buckle" (or something else to pull the belt tighter) across (just below) the pump pulley and tighten so that the pulley could not turn.

If the belt is removed you could use say 1/4 strong nylon line. Tape the end of the line to the inner surface of the pulley then wind it a few times in a clock wise direction, secure the other end to something strong. Turn the bolt(s) (remember the rule "lefty loosy, righty tighty") on the pulley. It will eventually stop turning and you should be able to get the bolts off. Be sure to use some "anti seize" when reinstalling. I use "anti seize" on everything I assemble on the car.

If any of the above works, please me know I just thought them up tonight while drinking my first Toddy of the evening :roll: .......

IMHO:
I would not use vise grips on the pulley. If you nick the pulley with the vise grips the rough edge will possible make short work of the nice shiny new belt you just installed...

Well of course you are installing a new one, right?
Last edited by samakijoe on Wed May 10, 2017 9:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SAMAKIJOE
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samakijoe
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:56 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Fiat 124
Location: Original Washington (1776) NC

Re: Engine Head Bolts

Postby samakijoe » Wed May 10, 2017 9:02 pm

OK , So now my toddy has come up with some thoughts on the head bolt issue. The head bolts are put under a lot of stress when the engine goes through cold to hot and back to cold again cycles. You really don't want to mess around with a poorly anchored head bolts. There are a number of products out there that allows you to renew the threads in the block. Go to Google and search for " renew engine block threads", or some such words you will get some ideas as to how it is done.

Good luck.... :wink:
SAMAKIJOE
AKA GRANDPA GRUMPYPANTS

ORFORD2004
Posts: 1099
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:48 pm
Your car is a: 1983 PININFARINA
Location: Sherbrooke, Qc, Canada

Re: Engine Head Bolts

Postby ORFORD2004 » Wed May 10, 2017 11:50 pm


scrapironchef
Posts: 155
Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:06 pm
Your car is a: 79 Spider
Location: Richmond, CA

Re: Engine Head Bolts

Postby scrapironchef » Thu May 11, 2017 12:57 am

samakijoe wrote:IMHO:
I would not use vise grips on the pulley. If you nick the pulley with the vise grips the rough edge will possible make short work of the nice shiny new belt you just installed...

Well of course you are installing a new one, right?


You don't use the vise grips on the pulley, you use it to pinch the old belt around the pulley and hold it.

Larry

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RRoller123
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Your car is a: 1980 FI SPIDER 2000
Location: SAGAMORE BEACH, MA USA

Re: Engine Head Bolts

Postby RRoller123 » Thu May 11, 2017 5:28 am

A chain wrench with an old timing belt or other rubber protection wrapped around the pulley will make short work of getting those bolts off. Like said earlier, don't use the chain wrench directly on the pulley, it will ding it up pretty badly and cause trouble.
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klweimer
Posts: 550
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:45 am
Your car is a: 1982 Spider 2000
Location: Arvada, Colorado

Re: Engine Head Bolts

Postby klweimer » Thu May 11, 2017 8:02 am

Lots of good suggestions on the water pump pulley, so I'll leave that alone. As for the oversize stud, I guess I'd leave it alone if it seems good and solid. I would not use any copper spray or other gasket sealer on the head gasket unless specifically directed by the gasket install instructions. If you didn't get any specific instructions with the gasket, go with what the service manual says. If you don't have a service manual, PM me and I'll see if I have the head gasket section in scanned form somewhere.
Kirk


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