First drop: stuck on hard oil line

[BrokeMyCar]

Hi folks,

This weekend a friend and I tried my first drop - fairly successful until we hit the hard line / rubber connection for the oil. I'm stuck! I guess I'm looking for tips / sympathy / work-arounds.

I've been giving it a daily dose of hammering, then PB-blaster, then medium heat (propane). I've been hesitant to go with the heat for very long, as I don't want the rubber part to melt, or is that a concern? From earlier threads I suspect I am turning it the right way, with the nut closest to the passenger seat turning counter-clockwise when looking from the passenger seat to the back of the car. But please take a look at my picture and let me know if I have it wrong.

The picture is of an early attempt I took at it, using a spare jack-stand to stay the hard line, and a spare jack to turn the nut. It failed, partially because after a little bending the wrench was pushing against the heat-exchangers so I stopped and am back to manual.



Any ideas? Thanks in advance -

Babak

PS strange observation: the nut on the soft line and the hard line are perfectly lined up, makes for some awkward angles. Could this be the first time this line has been opened on my 200k+ '82 SC?

[Hotwatermusic]

Originally Posted by BrokeMyCar

Hi folks,

This weekend a friend and I tried my first drop - fairly successful until we hit the hard line / rubber connection for the oil. I'm stuck! I guess I'm looking for tips / sympathy / work-arounds.

I've been giving it a daily dose of hammering, then PB-blaster, then medium heat (propane). I've been hesitant to go with the heat for very long, as I don't want the rubber part to melt, or is that a concern? From earlier threads I suspect I am turning it the right way, with the nut closest to the passenger seat turning counter-clockwise when looking from the passenger seat to the back of the car. But please take a look at my picture and let me know if I have it wrong.

The picture is of an early attempt I took at it, using a spare jack-stand to stay the hard line, and a spare jack to turn the nut. It failed, partially because after a little bending the wrench was pushing against the heat-exchangers so I stopped and am back to manual.



Any ideas? Thanks in advance -

Babak

PS strange observation: the nut on the soft line and the hard line are perfectly lined up, makes for some awkward angles. Could this be the first time this line has been opened on my 200k+ '82 SC?

Haha, finally a question I can answer, cause I just did this less than a month ago. Go down to Harbor Freight, or equivalent tool store, buy a 12"+ pipe wrench--monkey wrench, whatever you want to call it--get yourself a strip of leather or vinyl. Jack the car up enough that you can lay underneath it with good arm room/leverage. Lay perpendicular to the car, with your legs sticking out by the passenger side wheel. Wrap the big nut with the leather strip, tighten the pipe wrench on the nut in a manor that allows you to pull down on it....then put both hands on the handle as far down as possible and pull with all you got till you feel that first initial "give" in the nut. After that, it's gravy.

Mine took 2 days of going out there, messing with it, then coming back to it. It came loose. Yours will too.

[kodioneill]

+ 1 on the pipe wrench

[schumicat]

search for user name: hotwatermusic

there's a thread from couple weeks ago about exact same issue and many solutions

['78 SC]

When loosening fittings like this, it also a good idea to put the wrenches in a narrrow "V" arrangement so you can apply force by squeezing the handles together. This will minimize the sideways and bending forces on the lines and lessen the chance of collateral damage.

If you can wrap both hands around the handles and squeeze you will generate lots of torque. I've even used a big set of channel locks to apply force to the wrenches.

Be sure the wrenches are arranged so the twisting is in the desired direction.

Good luck, stay cool.

[Quicksilver]

I would try some Kroil or try a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF (dextron II or III). Let the stuff sit for at least a day.

Crescent wrenches really stink for doing stuff that requires high torque. Get a real open end wrench or even better a flare nut wrench and prepare for high levels of torque. The floor jack idea isn't bad but I would back up the hose junction with something because it is going to be pressed upward hard. That being said, I use '78 SC's "Narrow V" method with a huge set of channel locks.

That all being said the pipe wrench method with something wrapped around it to protect the nut is a good method when the correct tools aren't available. I would be much more comfortable using the pipe wrenches (with a protective wrap) then using crescent wrenches.

[Brown747]

Loosen the clamp on the heater elbow and remove from the exchanger for more room.

Thor

[john walker's workshop]

i use two bigass crescent wrenches. the longer the better. some require quite a bit of grunt to loosen.

[KTL]

When hammering on the fitting, it's sometimes a good idea to direct a punch towards the back of the nut that is supposed to spin. One of the reasons this connection is such a bear to get loose is not just because the threads are corroded. Also you get a bunch of crud packed in between the nut and solid tube part of the spherical hose end. You need to break that crud bond loose too.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Soak it in Kroil, then use BIG crescent wrenches or pipe wrenches. That connection is a pain to get loose.

[BrokeMyCar]

Thanks all! I'm now in the process of procuring some 32/36mm wrenches, a few pipe wrenches, big channel locks and Kroil.

In the meantime I'm going to rotate away the heater elbow (didn't realize it was only held by a strap!), put the jack pack in place and secure the backside of the hard oil-line and give the jack method another try.

You guys (and gals?) are fantastic - thank you for the ideas and encouragement. I'll let you know once I break through.

Babak

[Hoss911sc]

I used a pipe that fit over an open end wrench with tapered handle. Leverage is your friend The oil wrenches with the tapered handles are available

[BrokeMyCar]

Woohoo!

Went to the local hardware store and bought the biggest channel lock they had:



I repositioned the crescent wrenches appropriately, squirted in a little PB, and applied the Big Channel Lock:



At first I thought I must have rounded the bolt, but sure enough I had broken it free and the rest of the way opened by finger pressure only! The oil is dripping out as we speak.

Thank you so much Pelican community! (and in particular 78 SC and Quicksilver)

Babak

[DRACO A5OG]

Congrats Brother, Damn next time PM me and I will come over to help.

A Pelican: JinKatin, came over and we used his 36MM wrench and the end of my Jack handle for leverage. I held the stationary nut with if I remember correctly a 24mm wrench he had and JinKatin simply pulled up and "pop" it broke loose. Damn that sucker is on tight.

Use your same technique to make certain that nut is on tight. Check it again after a hard drive.

I found me line to my sump was dripping oil so I use the handle technique to give a bit more torque

Jim

[KTL]

Extra leverage shouldn't be used, unless absolutely necessary, to tighten. The fittings only need to be snug/firm. Overtightening can cause them to leak & make removal difficult again

[andyt11]

yeah, don't go nuts tightening them. Tight, but not two foot wrench tight!

I agree though, you should check after running it the first few times.

[88911coupe]

Glad you got this off, I had to scrounge around to find some pieces of pipe te effectively make long handled adjustable wrenches to get enough leverage to break it loose.
Looks like you're on your way now!

[na2ub]

Any merit to applying some copper anti-seize to the threads before tightening them back up? I just did that on my front oil cooler, but was not sure if it is a good idea or not.

[sc_rufctr]

This is what I do.

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

I recently removed my engine and trans from my car...

This is itself is not the "tricky bit"... As many people here drop their own engines/trans.

But to undo the oil line next to the end of the cooler I used two spanners and a hand clamp.
I had always struggled with this in the past and because of a slight injury to my shoulder I couldn't do it the conventional way.

As I sat there thinking about a solution I saw a hand clamp used for carpentry sitting on my bench.

I place the two spanners on the flats and adjusted them so I could squeeze then together using the hand clamp. The nuts loosened with no drams and minimal stress to the lines.
After I finished I sat back and felt a bit foolish as to how easy it was compared to the conventional way...

Anyway... I'm sure it's something that you may be able to adopt on your next engine/trans drop to make it a bit easier.
I'm probably not the first person to do this but I think it's worth sharing.
I plan on tightening this joint using the same method but with the spanners reversed.

Does anybody else have a "custom" like solution for doing otherwise difficult tasks on their cars?
What about custom made tools???

The nut in question...



The set-up...



A better view of the clamp...

[BrokeMyCar]

Hi folks,

Just wanted to share my success with you, who both encouraged me and gave me great advice along the way. Engine+transmission are out of the car, and I'm in it!



I broke off the throttle linkage, it caught on a tube (separate threat started: Bent throttle linkage / unknown tube ), but otherwise everything went well.

Now onto separating the transmission. I can't easily remove the long-arm on the clutch mechanism (rusted pin), so I understand this is going to be tricky.

Thanks again,

Babak