Heater box shield removal

[turbojimmy]

How do you get at the bolt underneath, at the back. By the corner of the valve cover? I got the closer one out, but this last one is killing me. Do I have to take off the valve cover? Or the DP? Can I get at it from underneath without removing either?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[OldGrayII]

Jimmy, I have two of those now in my garage, from my last 2 TR's!! Unfortunaitly you MUST have the head off to have a prayer at getting at that bottom 7mm bolt, I know it might sound crazy, but theres NO other way!

Hey, hows the new motor????

 

[turbojimmy]

That is nutty.

I think I'm going to use a big screwdriver, then, and see what gives first.

The new engine is great. Still working out some bugs - like this heat shield. The motor itself is fine. Quiet, idles nice. It pulls really hard at low boost levels - must be the ported heads. Big difference.

I've got seeping oil cooler line (not really leaking, just wet). Can't control boost for some reason, but I've been taking it easy on it. I can tell by the way it builds it ain't gonna stop at 15 PSI so I have to let off. I think it's the new exhaust housing on my PT51. Have a vibration, but it might be the poly mounts. I also have a leaky oil return seal at the turbo. Didn't scrape the old gasket off good enough.

It is running hot, though, and it never did before. It's bored .040 over, but the guy that built it said it shouldn't matter? Couldn't find forged .030 pistons.

Thanks for the reply,
Jim

 

[Kevin Turch]

is your DP hitting it?
mine is and i think im going to just use a dremel to put a notch in it, then bend it up a bit.
Kevin

 

[turbojimmy]

Originally posted by Kevin Turch
is your DP hitting it?
mine is and i think im going to just use a dremel to put a notch in it, then bend it up a bit.
Kevin

Yeah, the DP is hitting it. I was thinking of doing the same thing, but I'm not sure I can get in there to make a big enough notch. I was also thinking of prying down on the DP at the cat with the clamp loose and see if that works. Don't want to break the header, though. You get a lot of leverage at the DP.

Thanks for the reply,
Jim

 

[Kevin Turch]

I tried doing the leverage thing, look nice till the heater shield moved back to its original spot

If you undo all the DP bolts and set it down, there looks like there is enough room to get the dremel in there to notch it enough to bend it
HTH
Kevin

 

[325DR]

I got my heater box shield off with the valve covers still on the motor. I dont remember EXACTLY how I didnt it, but I know that I had a ton of tools laying around and somehow was able to squeeze in there from under the car to get it off. It was one of those long processes where you can only more the bolt 1/16th of a turn, then you had to re-adjust the wrench and go another 1/16th of a turn....

 

[OldGrayII]

Jimmy, did Danny Smith do the motor? Anyhow, about running hot - you DID ReTorque the head bolts? If not you may have a weeping gasket! And guys, trust me, you CAN NOT remove that shield without removing the head! I had the exact same problem as Jimmy, new motor mounts rasied the motor just enough for the THDP to HIT the shield, the ONLY thing I could do was to remove the DP and use a BIG hammer to dent it in that area - No more Hitting!! The next time I had the head off - Off it camE!!!!

 

[salvageV6]

Ain'tgoinslow is correct you can get it off without removing half the engine.

About 1/16" turn too. I used a combination of tools including small needle nose pliers, 1/4" socket set and breaker bar, and the socket alone or held by some pliers.

Short skinny tools such as ignition wrenches too.

Took about 45minutes for me. I just cut the bottom of the heat shield off at the seam and now there's no more bottom bolt.

 

[gn1220]

Which D/P do you guys have? I had to drill the holes in mine a little larger and it allowed the d/p to move just enough to clear everything. A LOT easier than pulling the heat shield. My d/p is a mease

 

[Buicksx2]

Brian,

The guy who did your motor did Jim's and all of mine, FWIW I never had to retorque the head bolts in any motor he has done for me.

Did he tell ya to? Just wondering cause I never have and have never had a problem, who knows maybe I just got lucky...lol.

Hope to see ya at the High Tech Shootout on the 13th Brian, havent seen your new car yet.

Hopefully it wont be too too hot and humid.

Stay well.

 

[Kevin Turch]

gn1120: Where did u dril lthe holes?, and what size?
I also have a mease DP

Thanks
Kevin

 

[gn1220]

I left the top bolt alone, used it as a reference point. I drilled the other 3 bolts just a little larger than stock. This allowed the d/p to piviot on the top bolt and gave me enough clearence at the heat shield.

 

[turbojimmy]

No - didn't re-torque the heads. Wasn't told I had to. I've only got 100 miles on it anyway. I've been away, so I haven't goofed around with the shield yet. It's a THDP. It's pretty tight - I don't think I can get enough movement out of it using the leverage-technique.

I'd swear I had that thing out when I did my heater core, but I'm not sure why that would be.

In the meantime, it just rattles. I don't think it'll hurt anything.

Thanks for the replies,

Jim