Removing Push Rod Covers
From VanagonWiki
On May 19, 2008, Scott Daniel Foss (www.turbovans.com) wrote on the Vanagon mail list about how to get push rod covers off without destroying studs and nuts and subsequently granted permission to have his words immortalized on this page. Please note that Scott has requested that his words remain unchanged, so if anyone wishes to add to this page, please do so after Scott's words.
BEGIN SCOTT'S WORDS (do not edit these words)
Well it depends if you are dealing with a nut on a stud ( very easy to deal with relatively speaking) Or a bolt threaded into the head.
They go in a long way too, like 1.5 inches, even more. Stock, the start out with studs and nuts on one end of the head, bolts on the other. First, the BEST penetrating oil, bar none is called PB Blaster. Penetrating catalyst, Nothing else even comes close. It is twice as good as Gunk's liquid wrench say.
Yes, spray it on the bolts in question twice or 3 times a day for two weeks. Without driving the van.
Heating a nut till it's read hot.........WITH A OXY ACCETYLINE torch works like a dream. Propane is spitting into the wind in my book. MAP gas - a hotter 'home gas bottle' type torch is a little better.
What I do is oxy-aceetylne on nut - make it red hot in 25 seconds or whatever , unscrew it - no big deal.
On the bolts, heat the head red hot, let it cool. Do that a few times. When you do put your tight fitting wrench or 6 point socket on it..........sometimes you can't actually tell if you are unscrewing the bolt, or just twisting the head off. See below for more tricks here.
Sometimes the bolt head will just break off. Which is the last thing you want of course. Drilling and taping........dental work.......... is hard enough with the engine out of the van......in the van, you could be there a week ( exaggerating ) drilling out the old rusted bolt.
I also notch out the push rod tube covers top brackets where they go on the bolt or under a nut. . That way, you only have to loosen the nut or bolt, not remove it completely. With the lower bolts holding it on .......and one top bracket , It's not going anywhere particularly
On the left side, where I know I might have to remove it ..........i might not even bother to have one of the top securing points under a bolt head.
And I am a NUT about every last screw and washer being in place PERFECTLY on the whole van - but the difficulty that rusted exhaust studs and nuts can present ........and they just rust from exhaust heat cycles, and if you are in a bad environment - like salty roads.....you can really be screwed about getting exhaut bolts out.
There is no need to treat those push rod covers like they hold the cylinder heads on ! Yes, you want to protect the pushrods from rocks and road salt and they must be on there, but they do not have to be bolted down at all 4 corners at 22 ft. lbs each bolt or whatever it is.
Also.......in assembly ---------COPPER BASED ANTI-SEIZE. Aluminum based is the common one to find. Some parts stores have to order copper based, or you can find it online. My top fav is the German brand, Wurth - a wholesale type outfit more or less.........their copper anti-seize I consider the best, though I'm sure an American brand like Permatex is fine.
Matter of fact, ........i never Mickey mouse stuff - ever ! But if I saw the worlds most rusted in exhaust bolt, holding on a push rod cover at the top.........I might sneak in there with a tiny cutting wheel and cut off the bracket at the top of the push rod tube cover.
You could save yourself a WEEK of grief that way, or even taking the head to a machine shop ......... They're plenty stiff enough - they really only need mounting on the top on one side. Btw - All waterboxer heads should come off every 80,000 miles for a nice valve job and new 'head gasket's. ALL used waterboxer engines need that. ALL waterboxer exhaust valves leak , don't seal that well, after 80K or so.
But really..........be VERY SMART, CAUTIOUS AND CONSERVATIINVE with , especially, exhaust bolts. - the studs with nuts are best, and easiest to deal with.
And you have my endorsement, and I have worked on 500 waterboxer engines, from the block up, many many times , to cut off one upper bracket in situ of a push rod tube cover -if the bolt does not want to come out cleanly.
Always notch the top brackets too. As I said, they don't hold the cylinder heads on , and they'll stay in place just fine with 3 attaching points if you need to do that.
END SCOTT'S WORDS
