Jeez that's looking nice man.While I was racking my brain about the thermactor air tube at least I got something done.
Progress Thread My 89 Lx Gets The Trickflow Top End Treatment Etc....etc.
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Hasn't been any progress due to the family vacation this past week, but today I jumped back in and got no where, trying to remove the dipstick tube to install the headers and it will not budge. I'm thinking I should of tried getting it out before I put the new heads on, I had this crazy idea I could work the tubes around the stick since they were shorties.....wrong. Before I get really angry and destroy the tube any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.
- Dec 19, 2010
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Man, I've removed headers a dozen times and never had to pull the dipstick out that I recall. It seems I just loosened the hold down bolt on the header and gently bent or spun it out of the way.
There is a lip where it mates to the block. When I installed the new tube in my son's engine I had to take a flat blade and hammer and work around that lip to punch it into place. That was on the engine stand. You may be able to get under it from under the car and do the reverse operation of that.
I tried bending the dipstick tube some and manuvering the header around it , but this is as far as I can get with it, it's getting wedged between brake lines and the head, the more I try and force it in there the more it's scratches up the head.
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Thanks Boosted, after I was done whining I took a better look at it and thought about what you said , I got a little rough with it, took the collector studs out of it, and forced it in there with tube in place, don't know how much coating is left on them ?
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- Dec 19, 2010
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Thanks Boosted, after I was done whining I took a better look at it and thought about what you said , I got a little rough with it, took the collector studs out of it, and forced it in there with tube in place, don't know how much coating is left on them ?
No worries man, I'm glad you got it. Look at it this way, you know it's tight in the block, it won't leak oil there.
You know the whole time I was trying to get it out I was saying to myself, no way this thing is gonna go back in ! Now I just gotta figure out how I'm gonna get the collector studs tight, can't get my hands in there , figure maybe I'll double nut it from the bottom before I put the X pipe on and see if that tightens them up without getting the nut stuck on it.No worries man, I'm glad you got it. Look at it this way, you know it's tight in the block, it won't leak oil there.
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If you super glue or loctite the studs and let them dry it'll make it easier to break the double nut loose with a single socket. Sorry I forgot to mention it earlier... DUR, but if you get an impact and zip the motor mount nut loose on the side you are working on.. and jack up on the bottom of the motor it makes header installation a lot easier.. Don't shoot me. 
Trust me it crossed my mind, I had the damn thing wedged in there pretty good and was wondering for awhile how I was gonna get it out. i should of used my brain and put them in before the heads but I didn't anticipate the tube being such a problem since it seems to literally fall out in everything I read.If you super glue or loctite the studs and let them dry it'll make it easier to break the double nut loose with a single socket. Sorry I forgot to mention it earlier... DUR, but if you get an impact and zip the motor mount nut loose on the side you are working on.. and jack up on the bottom of the motor it makes header installation a lot easier.. Don't shoot me.
I just bent the tube out of the way put my header on, then bent it back into place... figured better to mess up the dipstick tube than my coated headers.....
now when I do them I just remove the tube, then upon installation I use an anaerobic sealer. seems to work just fine.
now when I do them I just remove the tube, then upon installation I use an anaerobic sealer. seems to work just fine.
After wrestling with the drivers side header to get it to fit around the damn dipstick tube for most of yesterday I decided to quit till today. Got them all bolted up today with some felpro gaskets and ARP bolts with some anti seize, even managed to get the dipstick tube to cooperate and get the bracket bolted down on the header flange .
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when those fel-pros fail (about a 75% chance imo), look into these: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/php-66014/overview/make/ford
dead soft aluminum, thick, and reusable. used them on my shorty bbk's that i'm guessing were slightly warped (had been on and off about 20 times by the time i sold them) and kept killing the fel-pros in less than 5 minutes, not one single exhaust tick after using the percys.
dead soft aluminum, thick, and reusable. used them on my shorty bbk's that i'm guessing were slightly warped (had been on and off about 20 times by the time i sold them) and kept killing the fel-pros in less than 5 minutes, not one single exhaust tick after using the percys.
I use Remflex crushing gaskets. Never leaked, no silicone mess. I will never use anything else.
I used those myself and never had a problem. Fel-Pro's blew out within a couple weeks. Not a fan. I do like the copper rtv idea also.
Set up the valve train but not real sure I'm happy with it, after setting zero lash I tightened it down a 1/2 turn, some of the poly locks would offer some resistance at the end of this half turn, the rest offered no resistance. I'm thinking I might go ahead and prime the motor and do it again, I'm not sure if some of the lifter had bled down while some stayed pumped up ?
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I felt the same way doing mine on my old '95. I wasnt sure I had done it right, but the car ended up running great. Hopefully you have the same luck.
I thought you were supposed to meet the required torque within the 1/4 to 1 turn, if not you needed shims?
Are you tightening the rocker down till there is no slack between the push rod/roller rocker and then giving it a 1/4 to 1 turn after that?Set up the valve train but not real sure I'm happy with it, after setting zero lash I tightened it down a 1/2 turn, some of the poly locks would offer some resistance at the end of this half turn, the rest offered no resistance. I'm thinking I might go ahead and prime the motor and do it again, I'm not sure if some of the lifter had bled down while some stayed pumped up ?
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