Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 09:22:57 -0500
Reply-To: Bill Knight <bill@NS.ESC.STATE.NC.US>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Bill Knight <bill@NS.ESC.STATE.NC.US>
Subject: Re: 84 head studs; Mobil One (good stuff!)
In-Reply-To: <001601be12b4$9a330240$d0e6aec7@Gateway.compuserve.com.compuserve.com>
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I ran into those rotted head studs on an '85 engine I did a while back.
Several of the studs were pitted so I decided to replace them. The studs
were expensive, but not as expensive as those offered by Raceware. I don't
recall how much but seem to remember spending about $10 per stud.
The old studs were VERY difficult to remove. I replaced 10 studs and as I
recall, six of them broke while I tried to remove them. I was even using a
stud removal tool which grabbed the stud and allowed me to turn it with a
socket wrench. However, due to the cooling jacket on the case, I could not
reach down to the bottom of the stud, so was forced to grip the stud near
the top. This meant that when I turned the stud, the weak point where the
corrosion was let the stud twist and break. You talk about a $!@@#$ to get
those broken studs out! They are torqued into the case tightly! Installing
the new studs was easy, but could not find any reference as to how tight
they needed to be, so just made a guess.
So I guess the answer to your question is, Yes, you should replace the studs
if they are bad, but be prepared for a big hassle.
Regards,
Bill Knight
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@vanagon.com]On Behalf Of Cliff
Ober
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 1998 12:31 AM
To: vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Subject: 84 head studs; Mobil One (good stuff!)
I'm in the process of partially rebuilding my '84 GL's engine with 185k on
it (partial cause I'm not splitting the case). 3 or 4 of the head studs have
some pitting. Does anyone have recommendations on replacing them? If they
should be replaced, is there anything I should know before I start fooling
with them, like special procedures to remove them etc.?
I'm replacing the heads due to corrosion and cracks, but I did get 180k
before any major leak problems showed up. This is a van that's been driven
very hard for 14 years (95-100mph for extended periods, hard city driving,
logging/fire trails in Canada, etc.) and the only major problem area for me
has been transaxles (I'm on my third).
As I've torn down the engine, I've been measuring the parts for wear. Every
moving part I've checked has been *well* within the tolerances listed in the
manual. I feel a lot of credit has to go to the Mobil One oil I've been
using for the last 13 years. Oil usage is negligible. I change the stuff
every year or so, or around 25,000 miles. The filter gets changed at every
6k. I've been using Mobil One since around 1973, and I've never had any
vehicle burn oil. This is the first real confirmation I've had though that
it really does work well. I hope someone else out can benefit from my
experience with it.
Cliff Ober
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