those metal tubes off my manifolds? Of course this is with the engine in the car. I sprayed them with lubricant first. Looks like they will take a 9/16" flare wrench. Should I put some heat to the manifolds? The driver side might be doable, but the pass side looks like trouble.

My next thought is to chop the tubes off near the bolt, and try to get a socket on the bolt head. Of course that ruins all the metal tubes. If I have to put them back, then I would need all new tubing. I am not really worried about emmisions testing. Someday I will have headers anyways.

TIA!

 

I sprayed mine for a couple of days with pb blaster. On the one that just wouldn't come off i used a pipe wrench.

 

Penetrating oil, time, and some heat will be your best allies in getting those nasty little buggers out of there. It's good that you're saving them - just in case...

 

spray 'em with penetrating oil and let it soak for at least a couple of hours, if that doesn't work (I don't see why it wouldn't, it did for me) try using a little torch. I plugged them with some pipe plugs I got from the hardware store.

 

I got pissed at my emissions equipment and I took a cut-off wheel to mine After I got all that stuff out I had a pile of all that crap, must have weighed a good 40# I used my cat for target practice

 

Yea the soaking with lubricant trick seemed to help. I got 3/4 loose on the drivers side, just with an open-end wrench and a locking pliers. Unfortunately the last one I just couldn't move it, not enough room and the head was starting to strip. I was determined to get it off tonight, so I got my Dremmel out with a cut-off wheel. Once the tube assy' was out of there, I was able to get my 9/16" wrench around the entire nut, and got her loose.

As far as the pass side, so far only got 1 nut loose. There is sooooo much stuff in the way, just about impossible to get any kind of tools on the nuts. Esp the most rear tube, that comes straight up off the manifold. So looks like the Dremmel will get some more action.

Just one more Q...what size are the plugs that I need? I read somewhere here, to use brass 1/4" flare plugs. I borrowed one from work to check fitting, and it was too small. So maybe I need 5/16" or 3/8"?

 

Chop the tube off close to the manifold and use a ratchet (unless you want to reuse them)

 

MikeT 88IROC350,

Did you have any problems getting your smog pump off. I easily got the bottom one out but the top one will not move. I have been soaking it with WD40 for like 5 days now and have even drilled a slot in it to acept a flat head screw driver (threads are stripped)

 

When I took off Air_Adam's, I soaked them in lube and let them sit, then tried for a good couple hours with a line wrench.. was going to save them just in case. After I got sick of that I just cut the tubes close and used a rachet and breaker bar to gently take them out. But that was after I decided the tubes were shot anyway and I would just chuck them.

 

Shifty, nope, no problems getting my air pump off. I did spray the pulley bolts, but even after that they came right out. Not sure which bolts you are talking about, but the 2 Torx-head bolts also came right out easily. Just make sure you use the right size torx head. I think I used 1 size too small, got it loose, acted like it was stripping, so I stopped and tried a bigger head. You might have to drill it out and use an easy-out. Keep soaking with penetrant, and it will come out. They are grade8 bolts and the pump bracket is ALUM.

I will most likely just chop the pass side tubes off, and use either a socket or closed end wrench.

Tonight I put on a new NAPA belt, which was about 1" shorter than stock, seems to fit just right.

I still need some info on the threads that I need to cap off the manifolds. I will be heading to the hardware store soon.

 

Well I have started the process of cutting/drilling it out. I have stripped all the theads and have ruined mutiple torx bits. Oh and I am talking about the top bolt on the smog pump itself. The pully was a breeze and so was the bottom bolt. I am just gonna drill and drill and drill...me so angry....

 

TTT.

Here is an update on this topic. I got all my air pump junk and related tubing off my car today. Looks sooo much better without it. I even managed to get the complete tubing that goes down to my cat off. Just couldn't get that crossove pipe that runs in back of the engine over to the other side. I cut most of it off on the pass side, drivers side just kept bending it until it broke loose. It appears that the little C-clamps that hold the tubes are welded to the tubes!! Oh well, that is far as I am going. If the engine comes out, then I can pull the tubing off.

Now just need to get some plugs to cap off where the tubes were. Seems like a 1/4" NPT plug will work. I read that some folks used brass allen-head plugs. Just got to get to a hardware store. Anyone else got any tips?