Nuts! Or More Precisely, a Lack Thereof............ (Page 1 of 2)

I pulled an autostick engine out of a '74 in about 1987 and again out of a '73 I owned in 1992 but must have used either a L-O-N-G extention, a swivel socket or both as I don't recall there being a big deal. The first one I did on my back, the second on a lift. Memory tells me a 16 or 24" long long 3/8 extension was all I used.

Are you sure it is even in there ?

Last edited by DrDarby (2008-02-25 22:20:48)

Hiya Darby,

Oh yeah, it's there.

I can get a 17mm socket close to the bolt head by approaching it from the front and over the bracket for the clutch servo.  But because of that bracket (I'm guessing) I can't quite get the socket to lock on the bolt head.

I'm thinking that there is a bit of a trick to this - or maybe I'm just giving up too easily.  I'll try playing around with the swivel and see if I can get this thing to go.

Hiya Ted,

If I follow you correctly, you're saying that the 70 tranny case locks the bolt head, right?

While this would certainly explain why I can't get a socket on it (as it is now I can barely see the thing), it does leave one other problem for me.  How the heck could this bolt be tightened to screw into the boss in the engine case?

I'm pretty much arriving at the conclusion that I'll have to pull off the heat exchangers and the clutch servo just to get a better look at this thing.

Hiya David,

Yep, in fact, both rear wheels are gone.

But I had an idea while munching on my Wheaties this morning.  Ted mentioned that the tranny case might be machined to lock the bolt head.  I do seem to recall that also.  Problem is that I cannot get a good look at the durn thing.  So..........I think I'll stick my digital camera up there and take a few snaps.  That ought to help a bit.  If they turn out reasonably, I'll post one up here so y'all can take a look.

Hiya Tom,

Thanks for the input!

I managed to get the camera up and forward of the clutch servo to take a couple of snaps.  These are a little out of focus, but I'm sure you'll appreciate the circumstances............................

The bolt appears towards the lower left hand corner.  The large dark mass on the right hand side is the clutch servo out of focus in the foreground.  The piece curving over the top of the bolt head is the clutch arm which you can see more clearly in this next picture................

This picture is taken from straight forward (and slightly elevated) of the bolt position.  It gives a better idea of how difficult this bolt is to connect with a socket.

From what I can tell from these pictures, it looks as if the bolt head may be locked in place.  Hard to tell with this focus.  At the moment, I'm thinking that my best bet would be to remove the clutch servo entirely (its bracket has been unbolted) and then remove the left side heat exchanger.  That, at least, would give me somewhat better access.  But I am still trolling for ideas if you have any!  Any and all are accepted.  And yes, I would consider dynamite.

Last edited by Bookwus (2008-02-26 10:41:38)

Hiya Clancy,

Well, I did catch Tom's reference to the starter bolt. 

But the rest of his information concerning the bolts used to accomodate the doghouse (definitely on the left side!) seems to be spot-on.  And I think Ted was correct in that there does seem to be a fastener lock built into the casting.  Hard to tell with my crummy photography, but it would make sense for a pre-71 car.  When Ted mentioned that in his post, my mind snapped back to, "Oh yeah, that's right.  I remember that now"

But if this is so.......................how the heck can that bolt be screwed into that engine boss?  Anybody have an answer for that one?  I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe the bolt was slipped into place with the engine out.  The boss on the engine casing is slightly bigger than the bolt and the engine was just slipped onto the bolt.  The threads inside the boss rested in the threads on the bolt, sort of semi-locking it together.  Just a guess on my part.

Hiya David,

Yes!  Now that is the mystery here.  If I knew the answer to that one, I'd know how to get the thing outta there.  One thing I do know is that there has to be a reasonable answer to this.