Losh's VR Ute build thread

[Skydrol]

Anyone ever drilled out a head bolt? I'm curious to know what's involved besides the drilling? AFAIK it was on the coolant side that that they snapped. I assume it will take drilling and then tapping? Then some sort of flush for the cooling system? I'm hoping this 6hr job hasn't turned into a 10-12hr job.

All depends of what type of bolt (hardness) and the location. Used easyout in the past and they do work well. However, had other that I had to do drill a size at the time to clear the threads and install a new helical coil in them. Some, able to chisel out the bolt after getting thin from dilling.

All boils down to location, tools, skill and patience

 

[losh1971]

Quick update before bed. The engine had to come out to drill out the head bolt. Three attempts with the mig didn't get it out. It looks like the heads have been off before and some cowboy stuffed it up and either loctited the bolts in or didn't use the proper sealant, or they reused the old bolts. Apparently the two that snapped only got the small breaker bar due to space limitations and he said they sheared off with not much force at all. Either way the bolts are now out and two helicoils fitted. The engine had to come out because the strut tower didn't allow enough room to drill the old bolt out successfully.
Looking like it's a blessing the heads took the extra time to be ready, because no way could have I easily got the engine out with it sitting on the grass in Town where I was planning on doing the job myself. It would have been a flatbed and then two weeks off the road waiting to have it booked in, plus the tow would have been at my expense....... Bloke reckons it will be on the road Monday as he now needs to work on the weekend to clear his workshop before the Christmas break.

 

[Skydrol]

Such an easy task turned in a major job due to the location of the problem. Never fails, easyouts are a fücking bitch. How come 99% of the time, the bolts that shear are the worse one to get to? Looks like the Universe hate mechanics.

 

[the_boozer]

What sort of mig was he using out of curiosity? I don't think I've undone too many bolts with gasless wire, a couple of years ago I got tight and stopped buying mig gas since that time Ive undone very few broken bolts with the mig with gas it used to be my goto means of undoing broken bolts. did the mig run gas or was it gasless from recent experiences gasless is a waste of time to try undo a broken bolt.
Does this mean you have to pay extra or the mechanic is working today for free?

 

[losh1971]

Got the ute back today. Heads are on after a few dramas. Haven't tested it out but pedal feel does seem to have improved. It feels a fair bit smoother when you push on the pedal, which I'm not sure why? I couldn't give it much throttle because of the rain. If I had it would have gone stupid and spun the tyres and possibly caused an accident.
Overall I am pretty happy but I have noticed some brake fluid on top of the master that has me a tad concerned. Not sure how brake fluid can get there unless it's spilt?? I don't see any coming from the bottom of the resi. Annoying part is it's taken off a bit of paint, creating more work for me fixing that up. I can hopefully sort the paint next week. Shame because a little has bubbled on the booster also, where the master butts up. I have not long fitted a really tidy booster too and may need to put some paint on it as well, which is annoying........

 

[Immortality]

Good news, bad news. At least it's back on the road running

Such an easy task turned in a major job due to the location of the problem. Never fails, easyouts are a fücking bitch. How come 99% of the time, the bolts that shear are the worse one to get to? Looks like the Universe hate mechanics.

Murphy's law, the universe hates everybody

 

[losh1971]

Yeah I'm hoping the brake fluid spill is nothing to worry about other than some paint. If the rain stops I will check the cap seal and make sure it's fitted correctly.

 

[losh1971]

On a good note comps are around 165 - 175 since the new heads went on. I just checked the cap seal and it had dropped in at the front. I'm hoping that means the full resi of fluid maybe spilt a bit and leaked through the cap. I can't see how the MC could be damaged inside, even if he did pull it off to extract the rear most rocker cover bolt after it too snapped.

 

[losh1971]

Just replaced the D bushes, hopefully now my knock will have all but gone. If I can find some enthusiasm today I hope to clean the paint in the drivers side engine bay and repaint it, where the brake fluid took it off. Also want to colour in the 3800 with some red paint, now that I have a clean manifold on. While the heads were being fitted I did ask for the bell mouth to be left out, now I have to stuff around taking it off myself but need to find some extra enthusiasm.

 

[vr304]

Have you been able to give it a good thrash since you’ve had the heads done mate? Be interested to know what the difference is like