1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
[Profile/Gallery]
, Fri, 30 Nov 2012 21:56:23
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Having it to do again I think I'd pull the head and do head gasket at same time.
It looked temptingly easy but turned complicated. I used 1/8" cobalt bits but stilll had trouble. As one of above posters mentioned, the studs are HARDENED steel and they don't drill easy. And getting the drill to start centered and stay in the center of the stud is the key, and it isn't easy.
I made up a centering jig out of a brass barb-to-pipe thread fitting from hardware store. I think it was 1/4" ipt by 1/8" hose, anyway, the bore of the barbed end was exactly 1/8" to hold the drill bit snug and the OD of the other end was just a tad bigger than the hole in the manifold (studs sheared at surface of block). I chucked the barbed end up in my drill and used a file to turn the threaded end down to just fit snug in the manifold. Best done in a drill press (or lathe) and checked frequently as you approach size.
Still it had a little wobble and slop, that got worse the more I drilled. And keeping pressure on the bit to keep it cutting makes it hard to be careful and you can end up cocking it and going off center. First stud worked sweet and came out with my SnapOn easy out, after drilling first hole out to 3/16".
I made up a center punch out of a 1/8" pin punch, tip ground to a point, back cut down so I could get a hammer in at it. And used a right-angle add-on to my power drill.
Second two studs, drill went astray out thru side of stud. I ended up having to grind away the back edge of a metal-cutting Sawzall blade and grind the rear end of it down to fit, not in a Sawzall, but in a cheapo battery power mini saber saw (what people wrongly call jig saws) and it held together just long enough to cut through the studs out just to the threads, two cuts per stud, and I was able to pry and pick out the remains and had still plenty of thread left in the head.
Needed mini saw, and cutting pin punch down, because there's no room down there. Had to pull fan off radiator, coolant line across there, and also AC pump and its bracket. Then finally had to pull turbo and manifold as a unit. It turned from a one-week project into a months-long get at it when I can slog. The car is a project, now about ready to go on the road.
Ended up fine. I replaced gasket, and for studs, replaced all with ones from a set made for a Ford product, packaged up by Dorman, that I bought off the rack at a local auto parts store, about $10. Had 5mm hex tips on them for install, thought they might not handle the strain but worked fine. But I had to really scrounge to find a socket to fit them.
If you get those studs, don't use the nuts that come with them, they have crimped outer ends to lock them on and those crimps are so severe they tear up the threads as they go on.
NO long studs. I'm convinced that is a Saab idea gone astray. I think they turn into heat towers and get hotter than surrounding parts, or cycle hot-to-cold more severely than the rest of the studs. Anyways, they seem to be the ones that break and their design, however clever Saab may have thought itself when theorizing them, is the reason why.
Before my drilling I first went about to loosen all studs and then to oil and retighten the nuts. I heated each up to glowing with a MAPP torch. Most came off sweet, really easy, and threads cleaned up and I tightened them back down. One long one sheared off soon as I touched the wrench to it, despite glowing orange nut, and first pre-quenching it with oil and then reheating to glowing. Another long stud, nut came off fine, threads clean, went to retighten and it just kept turning, then came loose - - sheared off at head.
posted by 71.173.66...
, Fri, 30 Nov 2012 09:34:12, Fri, 30 Nov 2012 14:00:45, Fri, 30 Nov 2012 21:56:23, Fri, 7 Dec 2012 16:12:37
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
