Torqueing Forward Head Bolts?

[JackConnick]

I recently have replaced the head on my AT4 with one of Don's used ones. It looks great and was a great deal over a new one. The old one had cracked on top (where there seems to be a mgf flaw). I tried a couple of quick fixes with fiberglass (didn't work at all) and cold-weld putty (worked enough to finish the season, but leaked). The replacement went well and I'm continuing to r/r the inspection plate and repaint the engine.

My question is on re-torqueing the head bolts. They need to be done at least 3 times according to Don's manual. OK, easy enough - except for the forward two to the right of the thermostat cover. They are covered by a hose over to the exhaust manifold. I can't get a socket on them with the engine assembled. I can only get a open end wrench on the bolts. How do I re-torque them? I hate to have to disassemble things and that hose is so short it is very hard to replace with the therm. cover on.

Thanks,
Jack

[Chip Hindes]

If you really can't or don't want to remove the offending hose, you can buy a tool called a crowfoot wrench. It's a open end wrench that adapts to your torque wrench socket drive. Install the crowfoot on the drive so the opening is at a right angle to the torque wrench handle and the torque readings are not affected. If you cant do this because of clearance issues, you can reply or PM me and I'll tell you how to calculate the correction factor.

Here's a picture:

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/GSDRVSM?PACACHE=000000041137433]

You can find these at any automotive store which carries tools.

[Don Moyer]

Jack,

You can use an 11/16" open-end wrench with a pipe over it to extend the length to the approximate length of your torque wrench handle and then estimate the same amount of torque on the open-end as you're applying on the torque wrench. The most important thing is to err on the low side. You do not want to over-torque the head studs. Universal told us that they had a lot of test data that showed 30 foot-pounds to be acceptable.

Don

[duncan59]

Hey Chip, can you explain the "opening at right angle to the torque wrench handle" please? I would have thought that the crowfoot as a longitudinal extension of the torque wrench would provide equivalent tension. But I'm sure I'm missing something.... However, if at a right-angle, which side? Would that be the opening at 90 degrees to the left or right of the torque wrench handle?
Thanks as always,
Duncan


If you really can't or don't want to remove the offending hose, you can buy a tool called a crowfoot wrench. It's a open end wrench that adapts to your torque wrench socket drive. Install the crowfoot on the drive so the opening is at a right angle to the torque wrench handle and the torque readings are not affected. If you cant do this because of clearance issues, you can reply or PM me and I'll tell you how to calculate the correction factor.

Here's a picture:

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/GSDRVSM?PACACHE=000000041137433]

You can find these at any automotive store which carries tools.