65 Barracuda daily driver
Well, that was frustrating haha... So the exhaust stud on the "new" heads had already been repaired previously, but I assume it just rusted out again from the coolant side.That was not possible to tell before I actually started torquing down the manifold and the insert came out. I tried heli coils, but there was just not enough material to thread into. So I went another step up, drilled out the hole to 27/64. My plan was to use a 1/2-13 EZ-Lok threaded insert. Here's the frustrating part... I had bought a tap from Amazon a while ago, but it just didn't want to grip. I also had a Harbor Freight tap, but I didn't have much hope for that one either, so I went to Autozone and got a "SureBilt" tap set. Wasted some more time with that and went nowhere. I ended up going to Home Depot and got a Milwaukee tap and it gripped immediately and got the job done. The EZ-Lok went in easy and 5 minutes later the exhaust manifold was bolted on and torqued. I guess a good carpenter doesn't blame his hammer, but in this case the hammer was made of Jell-O and only wasted time and money. I guess lesson learned (again). So yeah, if you're trying this yourself, get a really good tap and use thread cutting oil. The EZ-Loks already have a thread locker coating. As you can see 1/2-13 is probably as far as you can go as there is not much cylinder head left after that.
Anyways, I also got the radiator back in, and a few things here and there. Next step is to put new oil in, prime the oil pump, fill radiator, top off ATF, drop the distributor in and start the car for the first time in something like 2 months with the brand new timing chain and the 675 heads.
I also had another thought about that clacking noise that happens when the car starts. It lasts for a few seconds and I always thought it was the lifters. It usually happens when the engine is cold, there's no oil pressure for a few seconds and then the RPMs go up and the oil pressure shoots up. Could it be that the starter doesn't retract as it should? Or essentially it retracts only after the engine starts and hammers against the starter until it retracts? It's a mini starter that came from a junkyard and was on the old slant 6 for years. When I swapped the small block in I rebuilt it, but who knows whether that made it better or worse. Not sure how I'm going to test that, but I guess it's worth looking into.
Well, that was frustrating haha... So the exhaust stud on the "new" heads had already been repaired previously, but I assume it just rusted out again from the coolant side.That was not possible to tell before I actually started torquing down the manifold and the insert came out. I tried heli coils, but there was just not enough material to thread into. So I went another step up, drilled out the hole to 27/64. My plan was to use a 1/2-13 EZ-Lok threaded insert. Here's the frustrating part... I had bought a tap from Amazon a while ago, but it just didn't want to grip. I also had a Harbor Freight tap, but I didn't have much hope for that one either, so I went to Autozone and got a "SureBilt" tap set. Wasted some more time with that and went nowhere. I ended up going to Home Depot and got a Milwaukee tap and it gripped immediately and got the job done. The EZ-Lok went in easy and 5 minutes later the exhaust manifold was bolted on and torqued. I guess a good carpenter doesn't blame his hammer, but in this case the hammer was made of Jell-O and only wasted time and money. I guess lesson learned (again). So yeah, if you're trying this yourself, get a really good tap and use thread cutting oil. The EZ-Loks already have a thread locker coating. As you can see 1/2-13 is probably as far as you can go as there is not much cylinder head left after that.
Anyways, I also got the radiator back in, and a few things here and there. Next step is to put new oil in, prime the oil pump, fill radiator, top off ATF, drop the distributor in and start the car for the first time in something like 2 months with the brand new timing chain and the 675 heads.
I also had another thought about that clacking noise that happens when the car starts. It lasts for a few seconds and I always thought it was the lifters. It usually happens when the engine is cold, there's no oil pressure for a few seconds and then the RPMs go up and the oil pressure shoots up. Could it be that the starter doesn't retract as it should? Or essentially it retracts only after the engine starts and hammers against the starter until it retracts? It's a mini starter that came from a junkyard and was on the old slant 6 for years. When I swapped the small block in I rebuilt it, but who knows whether that made it better or worse. Not sure how I'm going to test that, but I guess it's worth looking into.