Part 1. Preparation and safety
Objective
- Remove engine side and top peripherals.
Personal safety
Whenever you perform a task in the workshop you must use personal protective clothing and equipment that is appropriate for the task and which conforms to your local safety regulations and policies. Among other items, this may include:
- Work clothing - such as coveralls and steel-capped footwear
- Eye protection - such as safety glasses and face masks
- Ear protection - such as earmuffs and earplugs
- Hand protection - such as rubber gloves and barrier cream
- Respiratory equipment - such as face masks and valved respirators
If you are not certain what is appropriate or required, ask your supervisor.
Safety check
- Some engine parts are very heavy get assistance to lift heavy or awkward parts like intake and exhaust manifolds.
- Make sure that you understand and observe all legislative and personal safety procedures when carrying out the following tasks. If you are unsure of what these are, ask your supervisor.
Points to note
- Use six point sockets to reduce the risking of stripping the boltheads on exhaust bolts.
- Keep notes and label parts keep them in their correct order, especially parts like spark plugs as they can be used to assist in diagnosing engine problems.
Part 2: Step-by-step instruction
- Remove exhaust manifold
When you remove the exhaust manifold, there may be other accessories such as air conditioning brackets that will come off along with the manifold bolts. In situations like this, label the order that the bolts were installed, and only use six point sockets to reduce the risking of stripping the boltheads.
If there is a hose or air pump system tubes attached to the manifold, just leave them attached.
- Remove spark plugs and distributor
When you disconnect the spark plug cables and remove the spark plugs, keep the plugs in the same order as they were in the heads. Plugs that are very dirty or damaged can then be linked back to a particular cylinder or set of valves. If the plugs are very corroded, and snap off when you try to remove them, just leave them installed for the time being.
There is usually one bolt that holds a clamp that keeps the distributor from moving once the timing is set. Remove the bolt and clamp and the distributor should come out easily. If there is a lot of internal corrosion, you may need to use a prybar to loosen it.
- Remove intake manifold and valve covers
Almost every engine is different when it comes to the intake manifold. Sometimes the carburetor and intake manifold can be removed without taking the valve covers off first. On some engines, like this one, the valve covers will block the intake manifold from being lifted off.
With fuel injected motors where the whole fuel delivery system is bolted to the intake manifold, you should be able to remove everything together as one piece.
If the covers come off after the intake system, tap gently and pry at the valve covers to break the seal, but be careful not to bend the covers themselves.
When the bolts on the intake manifold are out, use a putty knife or thin blade gasket scraper to get in between the cylinder head and intake manifold. Then tap between the block and the manifold to break the seal and loosen it enough to lift it off.
Cast iron intake manifolds are very heavy, so lift carefully, and get some help if you need it. Sometimes the intake gaskets stick to the head, sometimes they stay on the manifold, so use a scraper to get them off.
- Remove oil pressure gauge
If there is a fitting for the oil pressure gauge on the back rail of the block, as there is on this engine, remove it now. This could be in a number of places on other engines, such as inside the block, or above the oil filter. Wherever it is, you will need to remove it at the appropriate time.
