Top end gasket job HELP!

AA, feel free to move this to a LIM gasket thread if you think it's better suited there.

Today i decided to finally change out my lower intake manifold gasket because it has been leaking coolant and oil. my s/c gasket is in pretty bad shape too at 151k miles. Never done this before...

I was able to get everything apart by myself in under 2hrs without rushing. All was good until i was removing the last 2 thing holding the lim in place...the t-stat housing. SNAP, off comes BOTH heads of the screws holding the housing on. i was still able to get the housing off the lim, but now i have the screw threads rusted into the LIM.
What are my options? drill and re-tap? extractor? new lim? pliers?

Obviously coolant has gotten into the intake cylinders and is sitting on the valves. will it harm anything if it sits there for a day or so? or do i need to stuff paper towels down there to soak it all up?

Also i noticed some calcium (?) buildup on 2 of the ports for coolant in the LIM. is that normal?

progress shot:


coolant passage:


Any advice or recommendations are welcome! I will be porting the blower and probably the lim while they are off the car. not sure how much to port, 1mm all around? 2mm? just the 'V' or should i do more?


Sorry for all the questions, but thanks in advance for all the help.
Matthew

One more thing: my snout has been leaking for some time now and i cant seem to be able to seal it. i know there is no factory gasket, i have been using rtv in hopes of it helping, but it seem like the more i use, the more it leaks. should i just mate the snout and blower metal to metal? thread sealant on the bolts?

Any how clean does the gasket surface need to be? i hit it with some carb cleaner, but there is still some tarnish on it. what do i need to use?

When my VC bolt broke off in the head i used a Crafstman extractor set with great success. It's kind of expensive but it really did a phenomenal job.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00062ZDF4

yours looks a lot cleaner than mine, I just did the same procedure a couple months ago. I soaked as much of the coolant up with lint free towels as possible and performed an oil change every 2 or 3 days, followed by a seafoam treatment.

The majority of the job for me was cleaning the old gaskets off with gasket cleaner and new razor blades, I also used rtv on the snout but had no problems with it so I can't offer much advice there.

did you use rtv on the lim gasket ends too? if so exactly where are the trouble spots for sealing?

I initially used rtv on the lim but had to re-do the entire project without it, it created more problems than it solved. Again, just don't skimp on the gasket removal and ti should be fine with the manufactured gaskets.

if your going to port the manifold,place the new gasket in its place and brush on some prussian blue,outline the exposed areas that the new gasket does not cover. remove the gasket and grind away carefully the excess metal. do the same for the water passages.since your in there anyway why dont you just go whole hog and replace the cylinder head gaskets and port them too,and the exhaust manifolds too. coolant in the cylinders needs to be removed with paper towels. why leave it there? it dont hurt to do a clean job. carefully remove all the old gasket. make sure to cover any engine port so no old gasket falls in the engine. the gaskets have all the install info you need. just dont gob sealant all over the engine. just a neat amount is enough. but most important is to take your time,make sure everything is super clean use all new bolts,chase the threads with a tap and have a good time. easy

robotennis61 wrote:

the gaskets have all the install info you need.

i have gm gaskets, but they didnt come with any install info

thanks for all the help so far. i am certainly taking my time. i have until sat at noon to complete this project, but i really cant spend much more $$ on this. i assume new bolts for the lim can be found at autozone? same with the coolant bolts?

the sealant goes onto the valley corners,a nice and tidy dollop halfway onto the cylinder head and the other half onto the block. in most places these bolts are a special order item. take a few days. extend your project into next week if you cant find them local. bad idea to reuse the old bolts as they are torque to yield bolts and are ideally used once. but wierder things have been done besides reusing old bolts.

going to have to use the old bolts then b/c i have work and school i cant miss and no one who can be my driving bitch for a week. a good cleaning and some blue thread sealant should be good right?

a super good cleaning. and some black rtv. don't know what the difference is between the two but almost always the black is preferred. scrub the bolts super good,and clean the bolt hole threads with a tap. this is the most important especially when reusing bolts.pay attention to the different types of thread lock that the different bolts take. some of them take thread lock red. while some others take white sealant. don't remember which ones take which exactly but don't skimp on this step. remove all the old thread lock material and dont forget to use a torque wrench. you can do a google search for the torque specs.

thanks for the help robo. just so we are clear though i'm just doing the lower intake manifold gasket and blower gasket. the heads are staying in place. i would have ordered new arp head studs if i was doing all that too, but i didnt see where the bolts were TTY in the lim write up's.

if just doing the manifold,just skip some of the steps. but chase all the bolt holes anyway....

If you have a shop vac you can use it to also to get the coolant and any other debris that gets down in those hard to reach areas.

Bert

As far as the snout goes the recommended sealant for it is Anaerobic Gasket Maker, have a tube of it here I bought at advanced auto made by Permatex.
Can be found at any auto parts store made by different manufacturer's.

Rickw wrote:

As far as the snout goes the recommended sealant for it is Anaerobic Gasket Maker, have a tube of it here I bought at advanced auto made by Permatex.
Can be found at any auto parts store made by different manufacturer's.

Also, make absolutely sure both surfaces are CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN, I would wipe down with brake cleaner once you are sure there is no oil remaining. That oil is thick and sticky, and really hard to make sure it's gone.

As for the broken T-stat housing bolts - you shouldn't have to remove the T-stat to remove the LIM. But since you already broke the bolts, use a soft mallet or block of wood to tap the tstat housing up and off, then you should be able to put vice grips on the bolts and unscrew them. I highly recommend giving them some time to soak in PB Blaster or some other good penetrant before trying to unscrew them.

Mr.Riviera wrote:

Any how clean does the gasket surface need to be? i hit it with some carb cleaner, but there is still some tarnish on it. what do i need to use?

Take a scotch brite pad and clean the surface until all varnish is removed. It will clean up relatively easy with a mild abrasive pad and then some brake clean.
Use a red scotch brite pad for all your gasket surfaces. Buy a couple of them if you don't already have some around.
I use the the 2" round ones on my die grinder but you can get rectangular pads that are sold at most auto parts stores or body shop supply stores.

BTW Carb cleaner may leave a film that needs to be removed before you can put a gasket material on. Brake cleaner does not leave such a film.

sweet thanks for all the info!

Derek, i've soaked the studs down with pb many times but they just will not budge. i even cut a small slit in one to try and use a flat head to remove it...nada. looks like i may have to go to the junk yard and buy a lim

You can drill a small hole right through those. You need to centerpunch the remaining stud so the drill won't walk off the bolt, then drill right through. Then a bigger drill, then a bigger drill... when you get closer to the threads stop drilling, heat it all up with fire and put a bolt extractor in the hole, then turn it right out.

Trust me, I've done stuff like this before. That's salvagable!

Make sure you soak them with PB Blaster though. I don't know of any other penetrant as effective.

Sorry, I was typing this while Derek replied, so some of it is redundant.
Have you ever drilled and used an easy out for broken bolts before.?
If not, you have to make a center punch directly in the center of the broken bolt.
I notice the one on the right in the picture is not flat, so you will want to file or grind the surface of the broken bolt flat first, so you can get a good center punch mark in the middle.
Then get a drill and easy out at the hardware store or home depot or wherever you can.
You want to start with a fresh-sharp drill bit.
The bit and easy out will be sized for each other. I don't know what the diameter of those bolts are but you will need to measure that first and get a bit smaller and a new easy out that is sharp. A single bit and easy out will be about $10.00, cheaper than a LIM.
Drill carefully and slowly with a lubricant down the center of the broken bolt, and clean all chips and oil from hole as you go, then tap easy out into hole with a small hammer, use easy out gently to remove broken bolt. You may not get it to move right away but if you keep soaking around the exterior of it with penetrating spray and tapping the easy out into the hole you have drilled with a small hammer and keep trying to turn it counter clockwise it may come loose and thread it out of the hole. DO NOT put so much counter clockwise pressure on the easy out and break it in the whole. Once that happens you can forget about trying to drill out the easy out. It is made of hardened tool steel and almost impossible to drill into it. You can put all the downward pressure you want.
Because it is hardened tool steel they are somewhat brittle and can break under a strong twisting motion.
And as Derek said you can help it come out by heating around the bolts, not the bolts themselves, but the aluminum around them. Aluminum will expand quicker than the steel bolt and allow it to come out of the hole.

Rickw wrote:

And as Derek said you can help it come out by heating around the bolts, not the bolts themselves, but the aluminum around them. Aluminum will expand quicker than the steel bolt and allow it to come out of the hole.

I'm pretty sure the LIM is cast iron, not aluminum.

The L32 LIM I have here in the garage is cast aluminum.
I don't know if the L67 is the same, sorry for any confusion.

almost certain the lim is cast aluminum. i just washed it down with some wheel cleaner (acid mix) and it bubles like aluminum does. nice and shiny now though
I did notice a area around one of the coolant passages has a rough casting from the factory, should i try and sand it some or not worry about it? need a pic?

Mr.Riviera wrote:

almost certain the lim is cast aluminum. i just washed it down with some wheel cleaner (acid mix) and it bubles like aluminum does. nice and shiny now though
I did notice a area around one of the coolant passages has a rough casting from the factory, should i try and sand it some or not worry about it? need a pic?

What did you use to clean and shine the cast aluminum. I have to do this L32 I have. What wheel cleaner works good on it.?
Also, yes a pic would help determine exactly what your talking about for rough casting and if it needs any attention.