Date:         Mon, 2 Jul 2007 21:26:52 -0400
Reply-To:     craig cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         craig cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: exaust removal
In-Reply-To:  <d1ea9acf0706291617t5720de26g3696da6a53532ee1@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Well my father and i made an attempt at removing them (van's at my
shop) only to find the following: The upper nut is now stripped
(proabaly was to begin with) and the lower nut is almost entirely
rusted off (VERY thin, no flat edges). How does one go about
proceeding from here? We're thinking of cutting the nuts down the side
with a hacksaw and hoping to break the nuts off, but then if we damage
the studs (very likely) we will need to use a stud puller to remove
them, which will require the entire exaust of that side of the engine
(left side) be removed, making ANOTHER exaust port's worth of problems
come to life. Have you got any exeperience here, or a hand you may be
capable of lending? I have a lift and every tool imagineable, great
minds to pick, but no time for them to actually do the work (i just
cant afford to pay these nice people).

The goal has been for quite some time to have this thing running for
my graduation party this weekend, and it will be my primary means of
locomotion (My only car) all of next week......

-Craig
'85GL

On 6/29/07, craig cowan <phishman068@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have installed a new muffler and tailpipe with new gaskets, but to
> no avail, as i still have a gaping leak at the #1 cylinder head. The
> gasket flaked off partially and has started it seems (as indicated by
> my mechanics) to erode the engine head. They feel that in order to
> replace said gasket, they will have to file down the head to get a
> flat surface but are concerned and perplexed by the idea of doing so
> without breaking any of the exaust manifolds. They believe that the
> pipes will have to be split at every joint they connect at in order to
> replace the exaust and that i'm opening up a few interesting issues
> involving rust.
>
> Is there a prefered method of removing a single exaust manifold port
> (or a single side) far enough to get a file in there and file the head
> slightly without having to remove the head studs and without having to
> break the entire exaust system. They told me it could be as much as 4
> hours of work ($75/hr!!!!).
>
> I sudgested the idea of getting a seperate complete exaust system,
> cutting the bolts with it out of the car and replacing them and the
> gaskets as needed to make the mechanics job much easier. Is this a
> good idea? If so.....whos got a spare 1.9L exaust system they wish to
> part with?
>
> -Craig
> '85GL
>