You have to take the pressure off the torsion bar to adjust it, up in the air or not. Get/borrow service tool or failing that weld up a heavy duty extremely rigid clamp.
Larry
1973 GMC 26' Glacier Build
- Thread starter ScottC
- Start date
Larry
Scott,
It is a given that it is a high alloy fastener and as such, the gall very frequently. A PO probably tried to move it without unloading it. Were I you (and fortunately not) I too would try to run a tap in there, but I would be very cautious as you do not know what the original thread fit was and your tap is probably nominal and it might try to cut more metal than you can afford to lose. So, if you start in with a tap and it does not go in without cutting, I would stop right there. You can try making the tap into a chaser by flattening the cutting edges and see if you can clear the thread without doing any damage. Not a real good bet but worth the try. I very much doubt that a standard thread insert would handle the load. Helicoil has longer than standard inserts available (or at least they used to) and one of those might recover the part.
Next thought is to get here and the old forum and ask if someone has a porkchop available.
Best of luck
Matt
It is a given that it is a high alloy fastener and as such, the gall very frequently. A PO probably tried to move it without unloading it. Were I you (and fortunately not) I too would try to run a tap in there, but I would be very cautious as you do not know what the original thread fit was and your tap is probably nominal and it might try to cut more metal than you can afford to lose. So, if you start in with a tap and it does not go in without cutting, I would stop right there. You can try making the tap into a chaser by flattening the cutting edges and see if you can clear the thread without doing any damage. Not a real good bet but worth the try. I very much doubt that a standard thread insert would handle the load. Helicoil has longer than standard inserts available (or at least they used to) and one of those might recover the part.
Next thought is to get here and the old forum and ask if someone has a porkchop available.
Best of luck
Matt
Thanks Larry & Matt! I see the tool, I should have looked in the manual first. I should have messed with it when I had the knuckles off but I didn't think about it and did not know it was messed up. Now that I think about it I did back out the drivers side but did not do the passenger side because it was already backed off, PO must have had the problem and never messed with it.
If it's any help, when I adjusted my pork chop earlier this year (had tool borrowed) found that one bolt was the SAE but the other was METRIC 
..leading me to believe that a PO had retapped the one side previously due to the same issue.
Larry
..leading me to believe that a PO had retapped the one side previously due to the same issue.Larry
Just to be clear, even that won't unload a torsion bar in many cases. Since the range of motion of the LCA on most vehicles is limited, the torsion bar will stay loaded even with the LCA at full droop. Whether the vehicle is in the air or on the ground, or whether the knuckle is installed or not, there's a lot of load on the torsion bars and on the porkchops.
If there's enough meat left around the hole, you can try an EZ LOK instead of a Heli-coil. They're a solid insert and offer a bit more strength, but require drilling a much larger hole than a Heli-coil.
We are good, it is 1/2-20 threads and cleaned them out with a tap and seems all good, I did install a 1/2-20 bolt just to make sure the threads are good. I will look for the correct new bolt.If it's any help, when I adjusted my pork chop earlier this year (had tool borrowed) found that one bolt was the SAE but the other was METRIC
Larry
Scott,
Glad to hear you have that handled.
And yes, removing the knuckle will not unload the torsion bar, but if you can remove the shock and let the LCA go full down, that should unload it. It has for me on three different coaches now.
Matt
Glad to hear you have that handled.
And yes, removing the knuckle will not unload the torsion bar, but if you can remove the shock and let the LCA go full down, that should unload it. It has for me on three different coaches now.
Matt
Hey Everybody! cant believe it has been almost a month since last post, busy busy busy. I am going to step back a little bit from the last post on the torsion bolt. I did pick up a Daytona/Ferrera bag set from Jeff at the convention, they were boxed for shipping and I left them that way till I was ready. I pulled them out and the first thing I noticed is they were not Firestone Bags as they were advertised on website (since been removed after I called Jeff) I am not really concerned about what brand of bags (Blacktec) but I was concerned about the exposed welds with no powder coat, so being I like to spice thing up a bit with color I did re-powder coat them in Red.
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Nice job, Scott. That'll be good-to-go for many years now. Did you blast them back to bare metal, or just go over the top? Either way, that gloss red looks like it came out nicely. It appears thick and cohesive, so should make a good seal. I've used a lot of that satin black powder coat with a bit of texture in the past, and it seems to leave microscopic pinholes that allow rust to start if the piece is left out in the weather.
Thanks Paul it sounds like you know it is difficult to sandblast powder coating with home equipment, lol. This is how I do it and has always worked well. I sandblast the parts to remove as much as I can and rough them up then I put them into oven and bring them up to cure temp them pull them out and "hot coat" them.
As far as pinholes, the only time I have ever had an issue with pinholes is when I forgot to pre heat parts. Not to hot coat them but to burn out any oils, chemicals (brake clean). My process is sandblast, blow off, spray with brake clean, bring part up to 400 degrees for a while, let cool then powder coat.
Sounds like you've been around the block a time or too. And yeah, I've had to weld on things that were powder coated, and didn't fit in my blast cabinet either. Not fun! That's cool you did a hot coat, probably a great way to get multiple coats to bond. Makes a lot of sense. I'll have to try that pre-heat trick. Might help me get better results if I every try to use that textured satin stuff again.
Geez time is flying, I am jumping around (as always) doing jobs as they come, I was able to get a through the bumper hitch from Blaine.
Removed spare tire mount, bumper, cleaned & painted.
Hitch & Spare mount installed
Cut notches in bumper
Done! Chrome bumper bolts needed to love so I powder coated then satin black.
Removed spare tire mount, bumper, cleaned & painted.
Hitch & Spare mount installed
Cut notches in bumper
Done! Chrome bumper bolts needed to love so I powder coated then satin black.
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Been jumping around but last couple week working on motor, and boy I am glad I did. As you can see I have a lifter valley packed with carbon cookies!
Careful cleaning with help from the shop vac
Ready to do final clean up, of course I will drain the oil and try and rinse the pan out before I put timing cover back on. Cam looks decent, typical wear but no scoring.
I have read there is no need for the Modello tray because I am not boat racing!
Careful cleaning with help from the shop vac
Ready to do final clean up, of course I will drain the oil and try and rinse the pan out before I put timing cover back on. Cam looks decent, typical wear but no scoring.
I have read there is no need for the Modello tray because I am not boat racing!
Also question about Mondello, I am doing the timing chain also and have read I should put a Mondello cam button in, let me what you guys have done. The gears on the stock chain looked ok but the chain was very loose.
Reinstalling the timing cover with new seal I have read to chamfer the bottom of the pins to help but I have not seen anything on the seal, should I trim the "wings" off the seal and RTV the seal and oil pan corners?
Reinstalling the timing cover with new seal I have read to chamfer the bottom of the pins to help but I have not seen anything on the seal, should I trim the "wings" off the seal and RTV the seal and oil pan corners?
Scott,
That was quite a pile of coke there. PO must have run her hot and not changed the lube oil off very regularly.
It wasn't so much that the OE timing chains wore out. They would at about 120K, but the nylon gear starts to shed teeth at about 30 years. Yours looks good, but changing it was still smart.
You don't need a cam thrust bearing. That is an advantage to people that want to run much higher crankshaft speeds.
If that is still an OE cam, then your choice to advance it might be good.
You might take advantage of the bleed port on the fuel pump and run that over to on of the fill vent lines (or only line if you have not done the High T mod).
When you fire her up again, you will hear the whine of he roller chain. That is why the original was called a silent chain.
From the first pictures, I thought you had the engine out. That is why I sent you the thing about timing marks at the ring gear.
Matt
That was quite a pile of coke there. PO must have run her hot and not changed the lube oil off very regularly.
It wasn't so much that the OE timing chains wore out. They would at about 120K, but the nylon gear starts to shed teeth at about 30 years. Yours looks good, but changing it was still smart.
You don't need a cam thrust bearing. That is an advantage to people that want to run much higher crankshaft speeds.
If that is still an OE cam, then your choice to advance it might be good.
You might take advantage of the bleed port on the fuel pump and run that over to on of the fill vent lines (or only line if you have not done the High T mod).
When you fire her up again, you will hear the whine of he roller chain. That is why the original was called a silent chain.
From the first pictures, I thought you had the engine out. That is why I sent you the thing about timing marks at the ring gear.
Matt
Installing the small baffle in the valley keeps hot oil from splashing up on your intake. Just my understanding, could be wrong, but I had to get in there to change out a bad lifter last summer, put the whole thing back together before I found the baffle in the sink. Took it all apart again to put in that baffle.
Is that fuel pump orientation normal? I don't think I've seen a GM pump that's upside-down like that before. But, I wouldn't really know beans about the BBO, since my MH has always had an electric pump.
Things were definitely a little crusty; even the chain! That new stuff looks a lot better in there. I wouldn't be surprised if the chain "stretched" due to pin wear based on the looks of things. Thankfully the coach has you now, since I know you'll do a much better job of keeping good, fresh oil in there. Hopefully all the important oil passages are still flowing freely. If it were me, though, I'd be tempted to make a good mess and crank her over a few times with the valve covers and intake off just to make sure oil shows up where it ought to.
Maybe I'm just paranoid about oil blockages...although I am wrapping up an Audi project that snapped the VVT hub off of a seized camshaft.
I didn't worry about the "turkey tray" baffle or any other baffles in my motor when I had it apart. It didn't have one before I tore into it (with blocked crossover), and the valley was spotless. You could eat pancakes off of it if you pretend the oil is syrup. I think we all have the exhaust crossover passage to thank for the crusty oil cookies. Mine is filled with aluminum now, and cooled with engine coolant as well as incoming fresh-air. I don't think it'll ever get hot enough to coke up a quality oil ever again.
Things were definitely a little crusty; even the chain! That new stuff looks a lot better in there. I wouldn't be surprised if the chain "stretched" due to pin wear based on the looks of things. Thankfully the coach has you now, since I know you'll do a much better job of keeping good, fresh oil in there. Hopefully all the important oil passages are still flowing freely. If it were me, though, I'd be tempted to make a good mess and crank her over a few times with the valve covers and intake off just to make sure oil shows up where it ought to.
Maybe I'm just paranoid about oil blockages...although I am wrapping up an Audi project that snapped the VVT hub off of a seized camshaft.
I didn't worry about the "turkey tray" baffle or any other baffles in my motor when I had it apart. It didn't have one before I tore into it (with blocked crossover), and the valley was spotless. You could eat pancakes off of it if you pretend the oil is syrup. I think we all have the exhaust crossover passage to thank for the crusty oil cookies. Mine is filled with aluminum now, and cooled with engine coolant as well as incoming fresh-air. I don't think it'll ever get hot enough to coke up a quality oil ever again.
Yes I am just going to run the stock "small" oil baffle, speaking of oil passages I remember reading about the passage to oil the timing chain, was it a passage or a bolt? Yes I got the block off kit from Dick Paterson and talked to him a couple times on the phone about it.
Any opinions on installing the timing cover with new seal and stock oil pan?
Figured I would throw in some eye candy, this is the powder I have on hand called Blue Wave Metallic, my buddy said it looks like Ford blue, LOL oh well it's what I have.
Valve covers not perfect, got a few small spots, must not have prebaked long enough to get all impurities out.
Any opinions on installing the timing cover with new seal and stock oil pan?
Figured I would throw in some eye candy, this is the powder I have on hand called Blue Wave Metallic, my buddy said it looks like Ford blue, LOL oh well it's what I have.
Valve covers not perfect, got a few small spots, must not have prebaked long enough to get all impurities out.
As far as the fuel pump that is the way it was installed, I double checked pictures online and sure enough that is the way it goes.
Matt, yes I already have a nipple in the fill tube for return but no JB Weld yet so I will pull the nipple and put a T in for return and tank vent.
Matt, yes I already have a nipple in the fill tube for return but no JB Weld yet so I will pull the nipple and put a T in for return and tank vent.
