fitting pacemakers to a 3.8 vn without going crazy.. possible?

[PUSHIN]

hey everybody, i've performed a breif search, and most of what came up was "i'm looking to buy a set of extractors" etc etc, kind of useless to me since i own some already..

so i was warned installing the extractors to a v6 vn (series 1 i guess i should add, especially considering the bloody steel coolant pipe is connected to the bolts for the extractors, and egh, no more detail needed) was one hell of a job, so after getting VERY frustrated, and hurt, much blood loss etc, i finally got the std manifold and y peice out (can i just add, i diddd just spend 9 hours doing that, JUST removing the old ones. OH THE JOY OF A PRODUCTIVE DAY!!!!) -.- so uh, i had a half hour go of getting the drivers pacemaker in, noooo way. hell no. can anyone tell me exactly what i have to do to do it.. theres something i'm obviously missing, i ended up removing a couple of radiator hoses etc etc, few bits n peices, but didn't wanna go too far. i had a go at 'loosening off my power steering rack' as i was advised by someone, not that i have any clue where he was talking about loosening it, but i assumed he meant what looked like the mounting bolts for it, faaaar too tight, maybe with a breaker, but i figure theres a reason they're that tight..

So pretty much, long story short, what do i have to strip out of my engine bay to successfully fit the drivers side pacemaker? (i'm just going to assume the passanger side is as easy as removing the std was, theres nothing in the way in comparison to the p/s rack and transmission and whatnot -.-)

If anyone could help, it would mean the world to me, i damn near lost my mind today over this crap, not nice -.- just yeah.. if anyones been in my position before, and knows what i need to remove to get the drivers side in, please.. please.. PLEASE, help me!! lol Thank you!!!

[Krisp]

Dude just remove the steering rack, the 2 x 19mm bolts and undo the steering shaft link into the rack , pull down and kick to the drivers side. Might be tight but crc and sum elbow grease will get them undone

[PUSHIN]

Cheers mate!! i thought it'd be something along those lines, and the 2 x 19mm bolts you speak of are the ones i tried to undo lol, i'll get at them in the morning, and my next try was gonna be the steering shaft link, so i guess i had the right ideas in mind! thanks alot mate, bloody legend. made me feel... safe? couldn't beleive how annoyed i got with it tonight after 9 hours of bullcrap -.-'

[Krisp]

wait till you do a vs ute on a gravel hill late on xmas eve

[PUSHIN]

LOL, mate i dont think i'll ever be doing this again. maybe on a 5L, or different engines all together, but i will NEVER fit extractors to a 3.8l commodore again. EVER. lol

[Krisp]

did you use exhaust gaskets?

[PUSHIN]

yes and no, no because i havent put any of the paceys in yet, yes because i have gaskets sitting there, plus a tube of high temp exhaust sealant, and also anti seize

[Krisp]

dont put the gaskets on, they will only leak on you, just high temp gak between the extractors and the head

[PUSHIN]

aaahhh cheers mate! how about for the y peice to catalytic converter flange, gasket or just the high temp sealant? (i'm guessing gasket, as it had one.. but guess i should ask anyway) and also, how about extractors to y pipe? looks as though it should seal OK, MAYBE. but i was thinking of chucking some of the high temp sealant around them anyway just to be certain, should i just chuck it on any and all joins?

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

dont put the gaskets on, they will only leak on you, just high temp gak between the extractors and the head

YES!!! Absolutely use gaskets. Don't use high temp exhaust sealant though, use an O2 sensor safe sealant like Loctite Ultra Blue on both sides of the gaskets.

Hard to imagine how you took so long doing them. But anyway, as Krisp said, undo the steering shaft first, then undo the two 19mm bolts, the nuts are 18mm by the way, then using the shaft, turn it so the rack moves to the right as far as possible, then fit them in from the bottom.

[Krisp]

abba, i always had problems with the exhaust gaskets lasting up to 5000km before blowing out between the metal sides. factory didnt have gaskets as both are machined surfaces. and the 18mm nuts? i undid two racks in the last month and 19mm and 3/4 fitted perfectly

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

The bolts are 19mm but the nuts are 18mm.

The only extractors that I don't use gaskets for are HM's, they say not to. But every other brand I always fit them, have done for 20 years. You always have to retension extractor bolts, it's the nature of the metal. The rate of expansion on extractors is greater than cast and they will always leak if you don't nip the bolts up at least a couple of times after they have been fitted.

[PUSHIN]

i had a friend (whom is a mechanic) end up calling me yesterday while fitting the pacemakers "hey man, can i come over?" "...SURE! " gave me a bit of a hand, talked me into getting gaskets, so i did so, and the sealant i used was 02 sensor safe, made sure to check ended up getting it all, fitting the drivers side pacemaker took a long time, few hours, the passanger side took a maximum of half an hour, y peice took 20 mins or so, max. all very simple EXCEPT the drivers side, i beleive it took me so long becuase most of the bolts for the drivers side were a pain in the ass to get too.

Cheers for the inputs guys, but i'm another who's going to say, i will NEVER attempt this again on a commodore like this, maybe on a vk or something, but nah, next time this is happening the engine bay will have to be already stripped nearly completely for another reason, OR i'll just pay someone. not stripping my engine bay out just to fit extractors, and dropping the rack is a bullshit thing to have to do imo. bit too tight down there regardless of it being there or not. just egh, not worth my hassles. but its done, and eh, kind of worth it lol.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

People attempt things like this without knowing how to and thinking it will be simple. Then, like you, are put off doing it again because it was so hard. Researching first, especially when Pacemaker have fitting instructions on their website, makes any job easier than just going at it blind.

Personally, I can do VN-VR extractors in around 2 hours start to finish because I read the instructions the first time I did it and after a couple of times, you get to know a few short cuts.

Doing something the proper way the first time makes it easier next time and doesn't put people off from reading stories like yours.

[immortality]

The s1 VN's can be a pain in the ass. I fitted mine whilst I was replacing the clutch, so trans out, steering rack dropped and you would have though it would have slid straight in, alas, no. I can't remember what I ended up doing in the end.

edit, my headers weren't pacemakers, they would have been easy with the 2 piece drivers side design they use.