I got th' oil line blues.....

[fred cook]

"Him an me, we tight" said the oil line fittings. Boy is that the under statement of the year! I did (finally) manage to get the two connections to the trombone oil cooler undone but the fittings in the back so far have defied my efforts. I even managed to "spring open" one of the 36 mm oil line wrenches sold by our host! I stead of fitting a 36 mm nut it is now somewhere around 38 1/2 mm! I am going to order the 4 wrench set and see how they work! This whole project is being done because the external thermostat has started opening at about 210 - 220 degrees! A bit too hot, what! And since I don't particularly want to cut out the fender to be able to access the thermostat, I decided to drop the whole mess and get it out in the open where I would have more choices of WMD to finish the dissassembly. I am almost ready to go after the fittings on the themostat with a Dremel and replace the two rear lines! Oops, what if I can't get the other ends loose? Other than removing 25 yr old heat exchanges, this has got to be the worst *%^#$%#* job to be done on a 911!

Ok, I feel better now. Just had to get that off my chest!

Fred Cook
'80 911SC coupe

[scoll911]

I placed the oil wrench on one and a crescent on the other fairly close together -- placed both on the ground. the crescent was flat on the ground and the oil line wrench was slightly elevated. I then stepped on the oil line wrench with my foot -- it worked.


Sounds like you are replacing the t-stat anyway, so no worries about the threads coming off with the fittings -- which they will. I learned from this board soaking the oil line fitting in muratic (swimming pool) acid will remove the aluminum on the fitting.

[Tim Walsh]

I just did this as well, it's a real pain.

one word of caution, the thermostat can be fitted both correct and incorrectly. Take note of how it was installed. The PO of my car mounted it backwards and ran it for at least 2 seasons. I had to pull apart the motor and toss the case because the resulting oil pressure was so bad. (~14psi@ 2K).

[fred cook]

In the process of trying to remove the oil lines on my SC I :

Bent this



So I made this:





It is a 36mm hex cut out of 1/2" mild steel plate. If this doesn't work, its Dremel time!

Fred Cook
'80 911SC coupe

[Jim Sims]

Those "laser-cut" or however they're made wrenches are not very good. The forged type with the tapering handles are much better or good old-fashioned Stilson ("monkey wrench") wrenches also sometimes work well. Have you tried heating the nuts? "Dremeling" is often the solution. Jim

[sushinav]

I'm not sure if the mild steel will be better. But dude, 2 thumbs up for making a serious looking "man-style" wrench! Even if it doesn't work, it'll work great as a personal defense device. Very cool solution.

[Randy Webb]

Some people swear by the bicycle (headset?) wrenches. I don't know how well they work personally.

[fred cook]

Actually, my plan is to use the steel plate wrench only to break the fittings loose (or failing that, simply breaking them!) and use a "regular" 32 and 36 mm wrench to finish the job. Sometimes the only solution is brute force ("If it doesn't fit, get a bigger hammer!"). I also have thought about putting a bracket on the plate wrench so that I could attach a fine thread j-hook type bolt to be able to put some serious and steady pressure on the joints. I would use my big pipe wrench, but it won't fit under the car!

Fred Cook
'80 911SC coupe

[cyprusx]

I used two crescent wrenches and two long steel pipes for leverage... I would have not been able to do this without the pipes!!!

[84toy]

Try some heat! When I removed one of my lines at the thermostat it would not budge. I used my oxy-acetylene torch on the nut and moved it back and forth and then used some penetrant. After several hot-cool cycles doing this, it unscrewed by hand. The back and forth method\heat really helps from galling the threads

[vash]

island911, split the nuts with a dremel. i cant find a thread, but it looks damn easy. i will try to find it.

cliff

[vash]

second page of the thread is where he shows a pic of the oil lines.

Duck food

[thomschoon]

I just did this yesterday, ended up cutting the thing off. Tried, heat, oils, big wrench etc, nothing worked. I also put it back on with a little never seize on the threads just to be sure I could get it off later.

[fred cook]

Cutting the fittings will be a last resort as I want to reuse as much as possible. I am going to replace the trombone with a Setrab cooler and fan but everything else will (I hope) be stock. If I do have to cutoff the rear lines, I am going to replace them with braided steel hose and -12AN fittings. At least that way I will get more clearance between the oil lines and the rear tire. BAT Inc. has the metrix x AN adapters so making everything work should not be too tough. Later (after collecting my nickels for a while) I am probably going to buy a set of the finned oil lines. The old system has been in place for almost 25 years so I guess it is time to spend some $$ on an upgrade!

Fred Cook
'80 911SC coupe

[Randy Webb]

BTW, Should anything (e.g. anti-sieze) be put on these threads to prevent such problems? I am putting a new engine in my car. Think I'll use copper anti-sieze if I don't hear differently...

[Jim Sims]

Originally posted by Randy Webb
BTW, Should anything (e.g. anti-sieze) be put on these threads to prevent such problems? I am putting a new engine in my car. Think I'll use copper anti-sieze if I don't hear differently...

Any type of anti-sieze should work, just put it on the threads not the spherical sealing surfaces. Jim

[Randy Webb]

Thx, Jim -- Welcome back. Hope the last week was not too terrible.

[fred cook]

Halleluiah Brothers!!!! The big-a$$ wrench did the trick! I had to add an extension to break loose the fitting on the engine to thermostat line but it hunkered down and did the job. The fitting on the oil tank to thermostat line came off fairly easily using a pipe wrench along with a few love taps from a dead blow hammer. Once I had the whole mess off the car, I supported the thermostat with a big (really big - over 4 feet long) pipe wrench and used the plate wrench and a hammer to loosen the fittings on the thermostat. I think what makes it work where other wrenches don't is the mass of the plate wrench. When you whack it with a hammer, it doesn't rebound like a regular open or box end wrench will. More of the energy is transferred to the fitting with each hammer blow and even a REALLLLLY stuck 25 year old steel on aluminum fitting is going to move. I also got lucky and all of the threads on the thermostat are in good shape! Just goes to show that if you are more stubborn than the machine you will WIN.

Fred Cook
'80 911SC coupe

[fred cook]

I just noticed that you are from Vermont. My grandfather grew up on a farm near Chelmsford, Vt. The farthest north I have ever been is to Boston, Mass. when I was in the Navy (SeaBees) and stationed in Rhode Island. I intend to head up that way some day and see the old family stomping grounds.

Fred Cook

[fred cook]

After getting the oil lines and thermostat out of the car, completely disassembled and cleaned, I discovered that I needed to replace the two rear hoses and the long supply line that goes to the trombone oil cooler. The rubber sections of the rear hose are in bad shape (no longer flexible and leaking at the joints) and the supply line has a baaaaad crimp/dent in it (much worse than I previously thought). So, what should have been basically a labor only job now will require a $500 investment in new parts! So, last night I sent my order in to PP for the new lines including an Elephant Racing finned supply line. I decided to reuse the return line as it is in good condition and is mostly covered by the rocker panel cover anyway. At least now the rest of the system will be in good order when I replace the trombone with a more efficient oil cooler. Oh yeah, once I got the lines off the thermostat I was able to replace the oil thermal control valve which was the original objective of the project!

Thanks for everyone's suggestions and helpful hints.

Fred Cook
'80 911SC coupe