Bridge over troubled waters

SolReaver · 05-02-2010, 10:07 PM

Hey guys. Kinda frustrating day 4 me. I spent a while trying to get my "Water bridge back on the car. After more hours screwing with it than I would like to admit, I gave up and walked away before I broke something. I was coming close to the " just force the bolt in with a hammer" stage, so I thought that was a good place to leave it.

IS there some Trick to putting this part on? For the life of me I can't get more than 1 of the hex head bolts to thread in and I almost buggered the threads that go into the head (Almost , that is) Do I have to lever it to the side? force the bridge down? I am thinking that I have to be doing something wrong here and It really can't be THIS hard to do...But, here I am. Any help is appreciated...ESPECIALLY if you have had a bit of a time getting a bridge on.....Thanks

Mrmerlin · 05-03-2010, 11:10 AM

first you have to make sure the center connection is sliding into the block once this is done then you may have to pry the bridge back a bit to line up the holes

MPDano · MPDano's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolReaver

Hey guys. Kinda frustrating day 4 me. I spent a while trying to get my "Water bridge back on the car. After more hours screwing with it than I would like to admit, I gave up and walked away before I broke something. I was coming close to the " just force the bolt in with a hammer" stage, so I thought that was a good place to leave it.

IS there some Trick to putting this part on? For the life of me I can't get more than 1 of the hex head bolts to thread in and I almost buggered the threads that go into the head (Almost , that is) Do I have to lever it to the side? force the bridge down? I am thinking that I have to be doing something wrong here and It really can't be THIS hard to do...But, here I am. Any help is appreciated...ESPECIALLY if you have had a bit of a time getting a bridge on.....Thanks

Oh boy. I remember doing this and yes you did the right thing by walking away from it for awhile. It took me forever to get it all lined up with those slippery seals and RTV. I had to pull it out and clean it and RTV it a couple times before I got it on right (this sounds kinda weird). Be patient young grasshopper.

SolReaver · 05-03-2010, 01:26 PM

Whew! thanks guys. I was getting a bit annoyed at myself for not being able to do a "simple job" on this thing. After all it is only 4 bolts...how hard can it be??

I am glad my walk away instinct served me well again. I glued the gaskets to the heads with sealant and put the bolts in so that now that they are dry, I will not have the sliding gasket obstruction problem. The Center connection is sliding in well. My main problem was (is) getting the bolts to thread. Upon inspection with a cooler head today I learned the bolts are NOT perpendicular to the surface, but take a slight angle. That knowledge and some levering backwards might do the trick. Stay tuned for round II.

lfausty · lfausty's Garage

one of the many nightmares no mattr how careful you are to assesing/asking a situation, uhh

before doing that whole realign reassembly. my water bridge..... nightmare bottom dside broke bolt then tap broke in it, wound up at a mshop and wound up with threaded insert. Yeah machine shop saved it.

SolReaver · 05-04-2010, 11:36 AM

Test fitted with all gaskets....No way Jose' ! put downward pressure on the bridge and it ALMOST lines up, but still no joyful alignment. OK, took it all apart again and test fitted with the large lower O ring in place but without the gaskets. Slight pressure downward lets me thread them all in...ok, on track here I am thinking. Removed the Large lower o ring and re installed the two flange gaskets..No way Jose' again....even with "moderate downward pressure. Hmmmm. Ok, time to take a look at the gaskets. The LOOK OK, nothing to write home about, but a gasket is a gasket...RIGHT?

WRONG. I dug through my pile of junk and located the OLD gaskets. I am so methodical that I keep old gaskets and broken bolts and bits and pieces that normal, sane people just throw away. in a ziplock bag marked "junk" (yea, I know, I got issues)

Anyhow the new gaskets are NOT like the old ones, the old (OEM?) gaskets are square silicone O rings, the NEW ones are just plain old gaskets. Here, see for yourself...

The old ones are on the LEFT , what is left of the new ones is on the right. The old ones were taken off gently and seem to be in good shape so I thought I would test fit the bridge with the OLD gaskets. Guess what? Gentle downward pressure allows you to get the bolts threaded into the heads. Mind you, there is a lot of body english and alignment, but the test fit took 5 min and I had all 4 bolts in finger tight solidly in their threads. I used some yellow paint to see if they were sealing all the way around and they are pressing a neat little 1/4 inch line all around without any sealant.

SO.... I am going to Re use the OLD gaskets as they are in good shape. The few thousandths of an inch makes a difference. the tolerances are so close that I think some RTV and patient assembly will do the trick.

To those of you that went through hell on this job I have a question...WHAT kind of gasket did YOU use? I tried to source the OEM silicone gaskets , but was told the only way to get them is to buy an engine kit for oodles of dough. WHAT is with THAT? Anybody know where to get them new WITHOUT spending an arm, two legs, and a kidney ?

MPDano · MPDano's Garage

Good find. That's why my gasket were a ***** to get on. I too had the normal looking gaskets and not O-Rings. Yeah, re-use your old ones and put RTV. Wait a day to dry and you'll be good to go.

SolReaver · 07:48 PM

Yes MPDano, that is the plan. But first...the obsessive neurotic side of me has to clean and detail the receiver grooves and the hose fittings on the bridge and possible paint it a festive color to ward off gremlins. Any suggestions for color...maybe a two tone? stripes? Little Pelican symbols?

BTW, In RE: the gaskets I got, and paid money for, which allegedly were suitable for this application, I will now rant about....ready...1..2..3..here goes...

IMHO, the gaskets as depicted to the right in the previous picture and referenced to as "plain old gaskets" are unsuitable for this application and should not be represented as suitable. IMHO they should NOT be used. EVER.

These "plain old gaskets" are WORSE than formagasket. I could form a better seal out of chewing gum and string. The raised red edges (that rub off) aren't tall or wide enough to fill the channel and aren't even in the right place!

This Isn't rocket science folks...It is called "quality control" If you sell a part, TRY to see if it actually fits. These cars are ENOUGH aggravation, thank you, Don't sell me Junk that makes it worse. I am usually too busy wrenching to quality control the parts and so I rely upon my vendors to supply me with suitable and quality merchandise.