Y'know in "I Love Lucy" how Ricky would sometimes express astonishment at something Lucy was doing by pacing back and forth, gesturing and speaking rapid Spanish at the ceiling?

There are threads on this board that make me wish I spoke Spanish. This might be one of them. I mean this in the kindest possible way: you are making this process a great deal harder, more expensive, and longer than it has to be.

In the first place, the factory nuts are 1/4" thick. Not 3/8" or any other thickness.

In the second place, if you want to learn about a product made by a particular manufacturer, the logical thing is to go to the manufacturer's website, don't you think? www.dormanproducts.com tells us that the nut in the lower right corner of the O'Reilly page (which is 849-104, not -014) does not have the 5/16" thread you need.

The reason why there are two part numbers for a lot of Dorman parts is that they are sold under two brand labels: Dorman and AutoGrade. 680-001 or 849-001, both the same, both the correct nut.

I type over 100 words per minute when I really get going, and even so, it still almost took me longer to type this than it should take to get hold of the correct nuts and get on with life.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Que paso, mi amigo!
I agree that this process has become "a great deal harder, more expensive, and longer than it has to be.", not because I am making it that way, but merely because of circumstances.
That may be so, but the Brass Nuts that were already on Lorrie are 3/8" thick, and I am trying to put Lorrie back together the way she was.
Si, and that is exactly what was done. But just because one KNOWS about the products made by a particular manufacturer doesn't mean that they are available WHERE they are needed. Hell, Lorrie's NEW Carburetor was found in a foreign country 2,000 miles away, and it took having an old girlfriend use her credit card to get the damned thing for Lorrie.
Well, first... the -014 was a typo. I meant -104 (I hate it when THAT happens).

And second... Looking at the O'Reilly Webpage, there is absolutely no way to know WHAT size the -104 Brass Nut is.
Well, you see? There you go! I didn't KNOW that. Had I known that I would have known that! That's why YOU are the guru here and I'm not.
That may be so where YOU are, but YOU'RE not out here in the Deep East Texas Boondocks where a dozen Dorman 5/16" SAE Brass Nuts first takes finding out that O'Reilly Auto Parts handles "some" Dorman products, BUT, they have to send off an E-Mail on Tuesday to get a reply back on Thursday to say whether or not they are EVEN permitted to order the damned things.

And you know what else? They can't just order the damned things and let me come in and pick them up. Nooooo! They require that I have to make a 26 mile round trip to tell them what it is that I want. Then they send an E-Mail off to see if they can get them. Then I have to make another 26 mile round trip to pay them $8.00 in advance just so that they will order the damned things. Then I have to make another 26 mile round trip to pick them up when they finally arrive two weeks later.

Let's see, Ms. American (the ONLY 1964 Ford Galaxie 500, Four-Door, Hard-Top, Fast-Back, Police Interceptor that Google find on the whole World Wide Web), my daily driver, gets 13 mpg. Gas is $4.00 a gallon. It's going to take $24.00 worth the gas, and three hours of driving to get $8.00 worth the Brass Nuts, and YOU think that you have a problem just because you can't speak Spanish like Ricky Riccardo?

Daniel, would it help any if I assured you that I'm doing the best I can given the circumstances under which all this is being done?

Don't despair. Everything will work out.

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Holy wah! I just found the correct end nuts and a whackload of additional options in steel, stainless, and brass, at McMaster-Carr. Select 5/16-24 in the size list and the options will be displayed. I'm liking the look of those 12-point items.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I prefer A-1 for my sauce, thank you very much...

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MRO....

Cheap, Fast, Reliable.... Pick 2...

For the life of me, I can't understand why this is such a project. The factory did not use brass nuts. They used a plain grade five steel 5/15-24 nut. This nut can be bought in just about any hardware store for pennies. Send me your address in a PM and I will send you enough to do the job and some extras. I buy them in a box of 100 for about $5-$6 per box. Your making a mountain out of a mole hill.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Hey Mr. OF,
Am awaiting the arrival of a box of 5/16" SAE, 1/2" Wrench Size, 3/8" thick, Brass Nuts which were supposedly sent from Houston on Monday, and are supposed to be here today.

From the responses to this part of the Lorrie Van Haul Refurbishment Caper, it seems that no one else has ever had this much trouble doing an Intake/Exhaust Manifold Gasket replacement.

This is the third week of trying to do it here, and Lorrie is STILL not anywhere near having it done.

What with having to wait for my neighbor to come help me, when he can, put the Manifolds on to the Cylinder Head Studs, because I'm not able to do that by myself, to having the OLD Brass Nuts strip out at less than 10 ft/lbs of torque, to having the stripped Nuts leave a coil of brass around the Stud entailing the removal of the entire Manifold Assembly to be able to remove the brass coil. Then to once again wait on my neighbor to come help me, to not being able to obtain NEW Brass Nuts locally without having the Auto Parts Stores having to E-Mail their superiors for permission to order these "unusual" (for this area) items, to having to wait two days for the superiors to reply, to having to pay in advance to get them to order the items, to having to wait a couple of weeks for the items to arrive, to, in desperation finally get a friend in Houston to get them for me, but then having the people that he depends on to do the shipping fail to send them off, to having those here on the Slant Six Forum unable to comprehend that Lorrie lives so far out in the sticks that items that are incidental to them to obtain happen to be like hen's teeth around here, I'm not sure that even a double application of A-1 Sauce would help to make this mouthful of mule meat palatable.

STILL, am trudging onward.

Am hoping that those who have the luxury of having everything that is needed to do this kind of thing readily at hand will thank their lucky stars that THAT is so, though I sometimes wonder what they would do if THEY were in the situation in which Lorrie exists, where to do every little thing is like pulling wisdom teeth.

Have come to the conclusion that what Lorrie is teaching ME is patience.

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Hey Charrlie_S,
Would it help to assure you that it was not planned to be thus?
But THAT'S what were on Lorrie when this part of her refurbishment was started.
Careful there! I've had a hard enough time trying to get 5/16"-24s!


Oh SURE! Maybe where you are!
Appreciate the offer Charrlie, but hopefully, the Brass Nuts from Houston will be here this afternoon (that is, if something untoward hasn't happened to them).
Have to agree that this molehill has become a mountain, but I'm not convinced that it is of MY making. If I'd had my druthers, it would have all gone smoothly, and by now would be on to the next piece of mule meat.

Anyway, thanks for the response.

Hope you are well.

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

I am convinced that is IS of your making. If you did not insist on using brass nuts, the job would be finished by now. Just because a previous owner used brass nuts does mean they are correct.
If your engine had gear oil in the crankcase when you got it, would you install the same thing, when doing an oil change?
I have tried to convince you, in a couple of posts, without trying to sound condensending, but you don't want to pay attention, so this will be my last post on the subject.
However my offer of sending you the steel nuts, still stands.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Hey Charrlie,
You're probably right. BUT, consider these two quotes from earlier in this thread:

65Dodge100 wrote:

and SlantSixDan wrote: Charrlie, I'm afraid that if any Studs got broken, that it would be the death of Lorrie, for I am not able to handle anything more then the Manifolds.
Your logic is, of course, impeccable.
Have been paying extremely close attention Charrlie, but the prospect of breaking off "2-3 or 6" Studs the next time that Lorrie needs a Manifolds Gasket (which Daniel is convinced will be fairly soon) has me scared to death, because if just getting some Brass Nuts is THIS kind of problem, can you imagine how impossible it would be to get "2-3 or 6" Studs, not to mention getting the broken Studs removed from Lorrie's Cylinder Head?
And your generous offer is greatly appreciated. Am sorry that all this has exasperated you so. 'Twas not my intention to do that.

Charrlie, maybe a bit more explanation is in order.

The work that has been done so far on Lorrie has taken two and half years. It is the result of keeping a promise made to Lorrie back in December of 1975

We were coming South out of Oregon, and Lorrie began to run badly. I said: "Lorrie, just get me home and I promise to completely rebuild you.", and she straightened right up, and we made it back to Cherry Valley, California without any more fuss.

I am now seventy -three years old, a motorcycle crash cripple who can hardly walk, blind in my left eye, and have a terminal autoimmune Liver disease that was supposed to kill me in five months when it was found on December 1, 1998.

I'm now in the fourteenth years of that death sentence.

The medication that I take suppresses my immune system and makes it to where I can have no visitors, nor can I go anywhere without risking contracting a cold, flu or worse, which would kill me.

What has been done on Lorrie has been done carefully, with probably more attention to detail than necessary. It's not only a pass time hobby, but also a labor of love.

It was because of the Liver Disease that Lorrie sat since 1996, and two and a half years ago, it was decided that probably the last thing I will ever do, had to be done. And so I began to keep my 1975 promise to Lorrie.

Other than taking care of the daily maintenance necessary to keep myself up and doing, the only other thing I do is mess with Lorrie Van Haul and Ms. American 3.14159.

And it is only with the help of the people such as yourself, and Daniel, and the others on this and other forums that I am able to know WHAT to do.

If messing with Lorrie had some kind of deadline, I probably would be taking more expedient measures, but it's one thing to kill time, it's quite another thing to kill eternity.

Anyway, this Manifold Gasket Caper is probably NOT the last mouthful of mule meat related to the Lorrie Van Haul Refurbishment Caper.

From what I've been learning about the A727 Torqueflite Transmission, there may be serious problems on THAT account caused by her sitting for sixteen years. But won't know THAT until Lorrie's mighty 225 Slant Six Engine is up and running again.

Hopefully, with patient help from the good people here on this and the other forums, one day Lorrie will once again be on the road. Till that time, it's just an hour-to-hour, ever-changing, minute-to-minute, custom-made, second-to-second experience. The road that stretches out behind is longerr than the road that stretches out ahead.

Hope this finds YOU doing well, and thanks for your response.

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Hey Daniel and Charrlie,
Have just downloaded a NEW browser, and when I tried to log on to the SlantSixForum, it wouldn't accept my password. I clicked on "forgot my password" and gave the window my user name and E-Mail address, but they haven't sent me the E-Mail that they said that they would.

I am posting this from my OLD browser.

Can you help me out here?

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Hey All,
Thursday Afternoon Update:

The box of 5/16" 24 TPI (SAE), 1/2" Wrench Size, 17/64" Thick, Brass Nuts arrived today just before 4:00 p.m.

Actually, they were SUPPOSED to be 3/8" thick, but came out to be just 1/64" thicker than 1/4".

These will have to do for now.

Have to be out and about tomorrow morning, but will be installing them upon arriving home.

Will let you know how it goes.

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Got an email on april 24 saying they had been out of the office for about a week and the gasket was in the mail and would take 6-10 days. We'll see...

Danny

Hey All,
The Brass Nuts that arrived yesterday are already on Lorrie Van Haul, and torqued to 120 in/lbs (10 ft/lbs). They went on and withstood the tightening without a hitch.

BUT, noticed something: Have a regular Craftsman Socket Set. Also have a Metrinch Socket Set. There is a definite difference in the "feel" of the Torque Wrench between a 12 Point Socket and a Metrinch Socket. The 12 Point Socket makes a distinct "click" when the desired torque limit is reached. The Metrinch Socket makes a much more gentle, "click". Makes me want to go: "Hmmmm!"

So NOW, have to reinstall the Brace from the Exhaust Manifold to the Tansmission Bell Housing. Reinstall the Starter. Reinstall the Carburetor, Fuel Line, Vacuum Hoses, Throttle and Transmission Linkages. Reinstall the Radiator, Hoses and Transmission Cooling Tubes. Put distilled water in the Radiator. Dextron III in the Torqueflite Transmission. And then see if Lorrie's mighty 225 Slant Six will run well enough that the Bendix Stromberg Carburetor can be properly adjusted.

Then it will be on to the A727 Torqueflite Transmission to see if it can be seduced into shifting into 3rd gear from 2nd gear.

Am just taking a break from leaning over the Engine.

Anyway, isn't this fun you guys?

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Hey All,
Friday Afternoon Update:

In an orgy of frantic activity, got the Exhaust Manifold to Transmission Bell Housing Brace hooked up.

Got the Starter reinstalled and hooked up the Positive Battery Cable, Wire to the Fuse Panel, and the Wire from the Start Switch.

Got the Choke Mechanism and Carburetor Return Spring Bracket installed.

Got the Throttle Linkage reassembled.

Got the Carburetor reinstalled and hooked up to the Throttle Linkage, Choke Linkage, and Return Spring.

Got the Fuel Filter re-installed.

Got the Vacuum Hoses to the Distributor and PCV hooked up.

This took about an hour and a half, and I ran out of energy.

Will have to do the Radiator re-installation and hook up tomorrow.

It was a good day.

Isn't this fun you guys?

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor

Hey All,
Saturday Morning Update:

Already this morning have installed Lorrie's Radiator, hooked up the Engine Cooling Hoses, Transmission Cooling Tubes, and the Overflow Hose.

Found a Triangular Washer that was NOT installed perfectly square/straight. Loosened the Brass Nut on THAT Stud, squared that Washer up and re-torqued the Brass Nut to specification.

Then all the tools got cleaned up, all the parts left to install the Floor and Cabinetry got organized, all the rags and trash stuff got picked up, and all the materials got put away.

All that is left to do to see if Lorrie will once again start up is to put Distilled Water in the Radiator, ATF in the Transmission, hook up the Negative Cable on the Battery, turn on the Run Switch, and hit the Start Button.

Am taking a bit of a break as I really over-did it yesterday and am feeling it. Fatigue, dullness, and clumsiness.

Will let you all know how everything goes.

JC

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Lorrie Van Haul - 1967 Dodge - P200 Post Office Vehicle - 225 Slant Six - Torqueflite A727 Automatic Transmission - Right Hand Drive Steering - Big Three HEI System - Frantz Oil Cleaner System - Bendix Stromberg Model W Carburetor