1988 IROC-Z

[Rusty Nail]

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Welcome to Planet ************ indeed! On Planet ************ we pull broken thermostat bolts out of L-98 intake manifolds - ALL DAY!

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Started hosing both bolts down every chance Helen IROC and I got to sit still working six days a week.. Even bought some PB Blaster for that purpose!
Got after it with the Irwin -only the smallest one fits- and the first thing to happen was?
The other bolt head snapped off. Bout like the other one.... A solid 3/16 -1/4" to grab onto sticking out of the manifold. I remained optimistic.

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2nd thing to happen was? The Irwin stud extractor rounded the threads off and then doesn't fit.
Okay...it could still go alright?
Hmmm. I need new plan. There is still time to buy a different tool before this "big league city" closes at 9pm.
I looked but found nothing useful at O'Reilly's while I was there. Went to Auto Zone thinking they sell the kind of garbage I need. If not, i'll hit Wal-Mart.

Bought this STUD EXTRACTOR for $14 and it WOULD HAVE WORKED! except the bolt broke AGAIN.

See it in the tool pictured here.

Now there is nothing to grip.

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What happens third you ask?

Break time happens. I am ******* out of options and SO FAR i'm also out $36.

I bust out the drill with the "Easy-Outs".

No one knows what's gettin ready to go down now but I bet it's got something to do with **** and a FAN.
I has a can of CHERRY NOS, bring it on!

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I DRILLED A HOLE THROUGH THE BOLT...to my surprise.

There is only the same 3/16-1/4" inside the manifold before Daddy bottoms out.

Ez Outt installed and?

The bolt doesn't budge - only because it ain't comin out! SIX HOURS later it looks like this.
Mind you this is the EASIER of the two...

**** you Daddy...

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Ookay Helen. That's fine...we'll go see Burt and LLOYD at the machine shop tomorrow bitch, ****.YOU. Tell your Auntie Flo I said goodbye.

I'm going to bed.

I was at O'Reilly's picking up the elusive MAF burn off relay and a throttle body gasket. Why elusive?
There was 12,116 -350 IROCs built in 1988 and Helen is # 9055. A LATE production thus the correct part was found searching for a 1989 car and it took a while to figure out THAT **** .

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Witness the death of my check engine light for it is here.

 

[Blue Ox]

Did you try using heat at any point?

 

[yevgenievich]

At this point drill out and thread insert. Or heat on the one that is still sticking out. Propane torch have done wonders for me on stuck bolts

 

[bucket]

Yep drill out and tread as needed.

Btw, Queens of the Stone Age is an awesome soundtrack.

 

[WFO]

Kroil is the best penetrant I've found. Originally made for gun barrels.

If Vice-Grips don't work, I weld a nut to what's still sticking out. Gives you something to grab, plus the heat helps break it loose.
I've also had some luck with left handed drill bits.

 

[Blue Ox]

Welder is definitely the best way to go, if you happen to have one.

Propane is good, but lately we've been using the yellow MAP gas cylinders on the torch. Yes, they cost more, but you get much more heat. And that aluminum is like a thermal sponge.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Negative heat. I believe the 3/8x16 x 1" bolts have become part of the manifold.
I do NOT believe that my base intake is in very good condition SINCE THAT APPEARS TRUE, it does not bode well for the remaining areas of the base. FURTHERMORE, I DO NOT believe that applying directed heat will yield any desirable result.

My options became few rather fast. Towing it somewhere for repair is not an option. No. It's MINE.

That leaves removing the five piece intake manifold and having the base repaired at Carter's machine shop, which will likely involve Helicoils - I understand that - and also believe that sucks in part because I don't like Helicoils because that **** is ghetto. Need I mention that the rest of the OBVIOUSLY heat stressed manifold base will remain?
I work 9p-9a Tuesday.
*looks at the clock*
YEP!
Still tickin...

Also suck.

Add four trips back and forth (across town , down the Interstate).
MAYBE getting it repaired to my very stringent satisfaction at an UNKNOWN COST maybe reasonable, IF they even agree to take it in, which I bet they would...they like building me cylinder heads..I has a rapport.
Having the car down EVEN LONGER which will, and Is, VERY QUICKLY becoming a BIG problem.

Or?

 

[yevgenievich]

Why not helicoil in place the way it is? And using heat directly on fastener can help.

 

[bucket]

I also would just drill it out as installed. The very most important part is getting the pilot hole drilled dead center in the bolt. After that, it's not very tedious work. It helps to grind the surface flat before drilling.

 

[Rusty Nail]

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Goin with the flow!

I looked online for an L98 manifold base for sale and found ONE. $279.
The thinking is that I can get the Camaro back on the road ASAP and have time to fart with the broken manifold at leisure. I wonder who EXTRUDE HONES..
Anyway!
Obviously NOT paying $279 and I live a mile from a Camaro yard...so I go see Gary since I owed him $100 and said I would pay today.
Long story short: he sold me another base manifold for....$125. $75 this week, $50 next.
I walked out the door with a FINE example of the Winter's casting.

Heat shield intact, no corrosion in the coolant passages, good bolt threads...sold.

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Remember : i'm chasing down a running problem and the Tuned Port Intake assembled by some unknown monkey who knows how long ago is a goooooooood place to find one. Or two.
I WANT the mother ****** off! Something. is. wrong.
I will fix it but not by avoiding the work and sure as hell not without spendin money! At least after I put it together, I know it will be correct.

I bought stainless thermostat housing bolts and aluminum assembly lube with the Fel-Pro gasket set for starters. Gettin after it NOW.

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Don't you wonder what i'll find? Because i'm going to find it!
(The running problem)


The pictures are crap because my new phone is a piece of ****...I can't kill it yet.

 

[Blue Ox]

Negative heat. I believe the 3/8x16 x 1" bolts have become part of the manifold.
I do NOT believe that my base intake is in very good condition SINCE THAT APPEARS TRUE, it does not bode well for the remaining areas of the base. FURTHERMORE, I DO NOT believe that applying directed heat will yield any desirable result.

Why? I understand it's not guaranteed, and dissimilar metals are a biotch when it comes to welding themselves together, and BTW, stainless is just as dissimilar as plain steel. But heat is a common and usually effective solution.

That leaves removing the five piece intake manifold and having the base repaired at Carter's machine shop, which will likely involve Helicoils - I understand that - and also believe that sucks in part because I don't like Helicoils because that **** is ghetto.

Again, why? Helicoils are installed at the factory in a number of applications because it makes a stronger thread that is less prone to seizing and galling. Manufacturers wouldn't use it in new products if it was just a band-aid. It's usually a superior thread to one tapped in the parent material.

 

[Rusty Nail]

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The answer to the question why is the word 'because'.
What difference does it make to you besides none?
Name one place in a 1988 Iroc-Z that Chevrolet used a Helicoil because I don't think that happens. Let's not fight about it...

Moving forward.

Turns out the thermostat bolts DO NOT enter water. I paid four bucks for the aluminum thread lube...not using that is the EXACT TYPE OF MONKEY ******** that has no place on this Camaro since it lives in MY garage now and it cannot be that way.
We got no time for wrong gen Firebird leather seats, no loose differential cover bolts leaking fluid, no hacked up, siezed bolt Helicoil ******** here and sure as **** no vacuum leaks allowed!
My primary goal is to improve the worth. Understand I am going to TUNE THE HELL out of this car. It will remain mostly the way it is now, only better.
It is my work car and it is for pimping.
This ain't no 40 year old farm truck...Lmao i'm not building a hotrod, i'm the cat what fixed the air conditioner while some jagoff P.O. was filling the overflow with copper seal.
Feel me?
It is allowed to be as right as rain.

Lo and behold!
No sooner did I pull the plenum did I see what I believe to be a primary, remaining running problem staring back at me.
There is no vacuum hose connected to the EGR valve.
****-a-doodle do!

Looking and I don't see it. Okay...will keep an eye out. Too bad I don't have a new Delco unit to install and an adjustable FPR, but the plenum removes easy enough to correct those issues next week without causing too much harm.

Moving forward.

Number 1 and 7 runner bolts were stupid loose. I counted four possible vacuum leaks getting down to the base manifold and an INOP EGR.

Everything else looks cool and is going well as I prepare to pull the base.

The runners are diggity-dent free!

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[Blue Ox]

It's your car. You do whatever pleases you with it. I just thought you might have been misinformed.

Carry on.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Thannngs are becoming INCREASINGLY difficult as Helen Fights Back, as witnessed here by the quarter inch HEX that I pounded into a round Torx 40 with a five pound hammer.
Mother ******.

Do not **** with me Helen..consider that as your warning. I'm being nice,I promise. Thank you for reminding me to pick up some real bolts for the base and ditch this Torx ******** while i've got the chance.

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Hooray! As I was wrapping up and preparing to go to sleep for my 9p-9a tonight, the boss called and wants me to work a 2p-10 instead...dude.

i've torn my car into a hundred little pieces after I woke up at 3am...better stop and pick up some MINI THINS.

Two hours and forty minutes playing with my Camaro and then it became just like work.
Oh yeah, I actually have to go to work...grr!

 

[Rusty Nail]

Oy vey. That was a LOT more work than I bargained for! I reckon about SIX HOURS total removal time?
I've never done that before..it was...interesting. I remember now why I quit fixing cars for a living..I don't have the necessary patience.

Oh ****. Hold on, juxebox.

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At least I had all the tools! It'll go back together much easier.

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Yeah it was a gob of trouble but given all of the vacuum leaks and other issues I found that I will now be able to fix? For next to nothin? I need moar vacuum hose.
Totally worth it! Would do again.

*edit*

Later on I stopped in the Camaro yard on my way to O'Reilly's to fetch the hoses I need. I was after a different TPI example to look at and Gary provided me a super duper original 1989 Iroc for my viewing pleasure and many questions were answered. The vacuum diagram only provided for so much!
Remember the 26" excess hose? That wraps around the perimeter of the engine bay and I shouldn't have cut it off but who knew?

I became convinced that something was amiss and I was right. Pretty certain I discovered the cure for what plagues my A/C venting. Time will tell!


I borrowed a patrol car from work because i've taken the day off tomorrow for the SLAYhER concert. I don't think much work will be completed in the IROC!

Eat your ******* heart out....


from 1988:

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