While I'm Here, What Should I Do?

[tlorber]

For degreasing, I can't recommend Oven Cleaner strongly enough. This product does a great job cutting grease, scrubs off with water, and has a unique property of dissolving rotted rubber down to sound rubber.

While the motor is out, you may as well pull the front cross member to R&R it, clean and lube the steering rack, and change out the lower control arm bushings to urethane.

[FastWoman]

^^^ Good idea about the steering rack and bushings!

I'll have to remember oven cleaner. Sounds like a great idea!

Threehz, the propane torch is for breaking loose frozen bolts/studs/nuts. When you heat the things up, they expand and squirm slightly in their threaded holes. That fractures the rust/corrosion. As the hardware cools, you spray it with PB Blaster, which then flows into the fractures. Once the hard corrosion has turned to an oily, crusty powder, you have a chance of backing the stud/bolt out. This technique is particularly useful for steel studs/bolts threaded into aluminum, as the aluminum expands faster than the steel. I simply couldn't have removed at least 5 or 6 of the studs in my cylinder head without the torch!

I don't think there is much you need to know about removing the manifolds. You'll probably get better advice here than you will get in the FSM, as the FSM isnt' really meant to tell you how to service an antique car with loads of corrosion. Here's what you do: First hose down all the bolts/studs/nuts with PB Blaster NOW. Do it again tomorrow. Do it again the next day. Keep those things soaked for as long as possible before you start work. Since you have the luxury of tilting the engine, position it with spark plugs down and manifolds up, so that gravity can be your friend.

Then start unbolting the manifolds. I'd say use the blow torch method if you encounter resistance, except that you don't want to risk warpage of the manifolds. Turn the nuts/bolts/studs firmly and steadily, and give them time to move. If one rings off... well... it happens. After you've removed the manifolds, then you have to remove the studs. To remove an intact stud, jam a couple of nuts on it, and back it out by turning the lower nut with a wrench. If it offers resistance, torch it. If you're removing a broken stud with no thread left, turn the stud with a SHARP/NEW pair of vice grips. Be VERY careful not to break the stud, because your last option is then to drill it out. You don't want to get to that point! Go slowly and methodically, and ask for advice here on the list before doing something you think might be a bad idea. If you get tired, get some rest and come back with a clear head.

After you've gotten all the studs out, clean out all the threaded holes with a tap. (Pay attention to my warning about the thermo housing!) To clean out a hole, squirt it full of PB Blaster. Screw in the tap a few turns, back it out, and clean it off. Then go a few more turns, back it out, and clean it off. You don't want to load up the flutes on the sides of the tap with corrosion, because it can jam in the hole and even break. It's an easy task if you take your time. It could become a miserable task if you were to get careless and take too many turns with your tap.

Next, clean up all of your mating surfaces. I like using this sort of rasp for the job:

You can lay it flat on the surface and slide it, and it cuts away any debris quite well -- in a perfectly flat plane, no less.

After you've cleaned all your mating surfaces, blast out all your threaded holes with compressed air -- or chase out any debris again with a tap. Now reassemble per the FSM instructions. I followed ZTrain's suggestion of using a touch of Permatex cement around the exhaust ports. So far that's worked fine.

Last step: Clean off as much oil as possible from your exhaust manifold. You'll have an impressive plume of smoke when you first fire up your engine -- normal.

Oh yes, add to your tool list a torque wrench. You'll need that for torquing down the manifolds to spec. All of these tools are very cheap at Harbor Freight or Northern Tool.

[mjr45]

A quick tip I got from an old mechanic, after soaking a bolt with penetrating oil (your choice) try tightening the bolt until you hear a crack then back it out. Has worked everytime on my 75.

[Threehz]

mjr, I have used that technique quite a few times and it does seem to work on some tough nuts/bolts/etc, good tip!

So I just spend the past three hours removing the intake/exhaust manifold from the engine and they both came off a lot easier then I expected! (by no means was it easy though)

This week the girlfriend and I spent a couple days scraping, scrubbing and washing every nook and cranny of the engine that we could clean and got a big majority of the grime off! I would say that 90% of the engine and it's attached parts changed colors (in other words we discovered what they actually looked like under all the grime)

I ordered a new water pump, thermostat, distributor cap, distributor rotor, ngk spark plugs, ngk spark plug wire set, and an intake/exhaust manifold gasket set. First new parts I've ordered for my Z, feels good to really start getting into it!

Anyhow everyone's advice has been a great help and has really helped guide me in the right direction, I think pretty much everything mentioned in this thread is going to be put into action. The only thing different is instead of R&Ring the exhaust manifold I'm replacing it with MSA headers, and on that note...

If I replace my exhaust manifold with the MSA 3-2 headers, it will fit right on with a L28 intake/exhaust manifold gasket set like the one I ordered (which looks to be an exact replacement of the original)?

[Threehz]

Also the intake manifold is really grimy inside, is there any special way that I should go about cleaning it?

[Healey Z]

On the intake....degrease, then take a wire brush to it. Followed by a high temp aluminum color paint. I can go get the actual one I used if you want it. Note that when I took these pics, things weren't tightened up yet, rather still getting the SU's to fit in the engine bay.

[Healey Z]

To clean the inside you could always bring it to a machine shop and have it hot tanked. They may charge you $20 or so. If not, get some bottle brushes and your solvent of choice and go to town.

The cast aluminum color paint, that I am very happy with for the outside:

Dupli-color engine enamel, DE1650 Cast Coat Aluminum.

What I like about it is that it does NOT have that fake, shiny silver, rattle canned, amateurishly look that is often achieved when rattle canning an engine.

Edited August 2, 2011 by Healey Z
added cleaning the inside of the intake

[Threehz]

Thanks Healey I do like the look of that paint, even though the header is already pretty nice looking on the outside (after lots of cleaning of course!) The hot tank idea would be nice just to know it's really fresh.

I think I'll go at it with a wire brush and degreaser and see how that works out!

[superlen]

One more piece of advise I have after reading some of your post...

"This week the girlfriend and I spent a couple days scraping, scrubbing and washing every nook and cranny of the engine that we could clean .."

Propose before she gets away.

Len

[ZCurves]

One more piece of advise I have after reading some of your post...

"This week the girlfriend and I spent a couple days scraping, scrubbing and washing every nook and cranny of the engine that we could clean .."

Propose before she gets away.

Len

I second that!! Twenty + years ago I had a girlfriend with her own Z! She's turned into my wife, and she still loves Z's. It was destiny! It is very nice to have a spouse who "understands" what having a Z means!

[ZCurves]

I noticed the post about Oven Cleaner. I used this stuff too - works like a champ, but watch out for the overspray and avoid getting it on Aluminum. It will mess up the finish - which is okay if you are going to polish it anyway.

[Threehz]

Thanks for the advice guys! I showed her this and she loved those comments. She does love the Z, however sometimes she gets tired of all my "car talk"