72 Fury 360 Frozen bolt..OMG help

[MBar]

On thing leads to another....had a rotten thermostat housing and had to deal with a stick bolt...got it handled.. then discovered that the water pump is rotted badly where the lower hose attaches... Ok..but I've got one bolt that's not budging... So I spent a couple of hours with my Dremel and cut the water pump away from the bolt... Lots of yucky jello coolant but it appears to dissolve with water so. Going to flush the block... Now the bolt... My next step is to apply a couple sets of vise grips and a socket and see if it will turn... Otherwise... Any ideas? I'm not sure an impact wrench is a good idea.... Help!!!

 

[72Fury]

Pb blast if your patient enough to wait a day or so. A propane torch works wonders as well.

 

[Deleted member 220]

I had the problem with mine so i cut the bolt and removed the cover and heated it up red hot and it came out

 

[Davea Lux]

You will need to pull the water pump housing as that bolt goes thru the housing and bolts directly into the block. Once the housing is out of the way, there will be about 2" of bolt remains to attach tools to. I would suggest soaking the base of the bolt with a good rust dissolving penetrating oil and giving the end of the bolt a couple of raps with a hammer to help free it up it up, moderate heat is also helpful as noted above. This bolt may twist off again flush where it screws into the block. If so, drill a pilot hole at the exact center of the bolt, these bolts are usually not dead ended flush into the bottom of the hole. Gradually increase the size of the pilot hole with larger drill bits until just threads are left of the bolt and run a tap to clean the threads out. Remember that a center pilot is important, I usually start my pilot with a center punch. Given the extensive level of corrosion on the water pump. you may also need a full set of soft plugs on the rest of the engine as well.

Dave

 

[72Fury]

I should add that I use Map gas (the yellow not blue tank available at Lowes/Hdepot) which is hotter than propane.

 

[Davea Lux]

If the timing chain has not been replaced on this engine yet, this would be a good time to do it as you are 3/4 of the way there already. Putting a moderate sized pipe wrench on the bolt remains while you have a helper tap the end of the bolt moderately with a hammer will also sometimes work.

Dave

 

[MBar]

If the timing chain has not been replaced on this engine yet, this would be a good time to do it as you are 3/4 of the way there already. Putting a moderate sized pipe wrench on the bolt remains while you have a helper tap the end of the bolt moderately with a hammer will also sometimes work.

Dave

Hmmmm...this is that green bomb I bought for cheap and I still need to prove it runs...but does this have plastic gears? And do I need to pull the harmonic balancer? I'm getting dragged deeper before I know if it's worth it...so far a water pump and thermostat housing not too bad..

 

[Davea Lux]

Hmmmm...this is that green bomb I bought for cheap and I still need to prove it runs...but does this have plastic gears? And do I need to pull the harmonic balancer? I'm getting dragged deeper before I know if it's worth it...so far a water pump and thermostat housing not too bad..

If they are stock gears, the top gear will be plastic and the balancer has to come off to get at the gears. Put a breaker bar on the big nut for the balancer and line up the timing marks to TDC. Pull the distributor cap, rotate the bar back and forth, 12 degrees of slop is ok, 15 is out of spec and 20-25 is at the point of failure for the timing chain.
Plastic gears can go anytime after 70k

Dave

 

[MBar]

You will need to pull the water pump housing as that bolt goes thru the housing and bolts directly into the block. Once the housing is out of the way, there will be about 2" of bolt remains to attach tools to. I would suggest soaking the base of the bolt with a good rust dissolving penetrating oil and giving the end of the bolt a couple of raps with a hammer to help free it up it up, moderate heat is also helpful as noted above. This bolt may twist off again flush where it screws into the block. If so, drill a pilot hole at the exact center of the bolt, these bolts are usually not dead ended flush into the bottom of the hole. Gradually increase the size of the pilot hole with larger drill bits until just threads are left of the bolt and run a tap to clean the threads out. Remember that a center pilot is important, I usually start my pilot with a center punch. Given the extensive level of corrosion on the water pump. you may also need a full set of soft plugs on the rest of the engine as well.

Dave

So the water pump is out....by housing, do you mean that one between the pump and the block? I thought that was the timing cover.. is it a simple bolt deal ordo I have to remove pulleys?

 

[MBar]

If they are stock gears, the top gear will be plastic and the balancer has to come off to get at the gears. Put a breaker bar on the big nut for the balancer and line up the timing marks to TDC. Pull the distributor cap, rotate the bar back and forth, 12 degrees of slop is ok, 15 is out of spec and 20-25 is at the point of failure for the timing chain.
Plastic gears can go anytime after 70k

Dave

What size socket for the breaker bar?

 

[71Polara383]

Hmmmm...this is that green bomb I bought for cheap and I still need to prove it runs...but does this have plastic gears? And do I need to pull the harmonic balancer? I'm getting dragged deeper before I know if it's worth it...so far a water pump and thermostat housing not too bad..

I dont like wasting my time on bad stuff. As long as it spins freely and has oil in it. I will attempt to make it run before I start dumping money.

 

[Davea Lux]

Put in a fresh set of points and try putting a small amount of fuel down the carb throat, crank it over and see if it runs briefly. If you are unsure of the fuel tank condition unhook the tank line from the fuel pump, that way you do not suck up a bunch of crap into the pump and carb. This is a test for "life".
Dave

 

[71Polara383]

Put in a fresh set of points and try putting a small amount of fuel down the carb throat, crank it over and see if it runs briefly. If you are unsure of the fuel tank condition unhook the tank line from the fuel pump, that way you do not suck up a bunch of crap into the pump and carb. This is a test for "life".
Dave

I normally remove the feed from the tank and use a boat tank with fresh fuel. Pop in hot battery. Throw a little gas down the carb or fill the float bowl. Hit the key and see what happens. Too late for that now as you are already into it. Its a 360 and they are normally good engines and dont make enough power stock to really hurt themselves. I also vote that now is the time to get the timing chain replaced. Also heat is going to be your best friend with that stubborn bolt.

 

[MBar]

I'm going to try heat.. do I apply heat to the bolt? Which part of the bolt? Red hot or is there a clue of when it's hot enough? Try to turn it while it's hot?
Thank you for all of the replies...much appreciated..

 

[68 4spd Fury]

I had that happen with mine, went to change the belts and one of the bolts broke, turned out it was frozen into the housing, not in the block which was lucky. Got it out enough to cut the bolt and the rest of the threaded end just turned out. I don't remember on small blocks, is the housing aluminum? On my 383 it was cast iron.
Now, another matter, if the coolant was bad enough to look like that and corrode the pump & housing, freeze plugs might not be that far behind. Just something to think about depending how far you plan to go with this.

 

[rags]

judging by the amount of rust there was under the valve covers, i'd think there'd be a couple of rusty cylinder walls also.

 

[HWYCRZR]

When heating the area think about this.
Heat expands. Cold contracts ( makes smaller).
If you heat the bolt it will expand making it tighter.
If you lightly heat up the area around the threads on the block the expansion should help “enlarge” the bolt hole making it easier for the bolt to back out. Don’t heat to red you may destroy something.
Remember your engine is probably coated with oil. Clean the area and have a fire extinguisher by your side.

 

[MBar]

I had that happen with mine, went to change the belts and one of the bolts broke, turned out it was frozen into the housing, not in the block which was lucky. Got it out enough to cut the bolt and the rest of the threaded end just turned out. I don't remember on small blocks, is the housing aluminum? On my 383 it was cast iron.
Now, another matter, if the coolant was bad enough to look like that and corrode the pump & housing, freeze plugs might not be that far behind. Just something to think about depending how far you plan to go with this.

Yes...so I guess that's not the timing cover but the water pump housing...and I did see the shaft of the bolt flex before the housing as I tried to turn it... Gonna pull the housing and see if it gets any better...I'll have access closer to the threads at least

 

[stubs300]

judging by the amount of rust there was under the valve covers, i'd think there'd be a couple of rusty cylinder walls also.

I agree. This clearly isn't a west coast car by how rusty that fuel pump is. If you ever have to tear into that motor, plan on a lot of busted bolts to deal with. Good Luck

 

[MBar]

I agree. This clearly isn't a west coast car by how rusty that fuel pump is. If you ever have to tear into that motor, plan on a lot of busted bolts to deal with. Good Luck

Actually the fuel pump and most of the engine front are covered in oil... I am finding a lot of rot in the aluminum housings...yes it's whole life was North if Sacramento since new... And the sitting it has done was in San Bernardino where it's pretty dry...