1995 Olds Achieva-the quest continues - Page 2

Robert Swartz · 05-25-2014, 09:57 PM

After many months, got this old pig back out to do some work on it. I had gotten a header from Ron Seibenek at the Nationals last year. Just hadn't taken the time to put it on. Well, since I was at a standstill with the Mustang II, decided to get this little project done.

To start off, I naively thought this would be a pretty simple job. HAH! I had treated the manifold nuts (these are bolted to the heads with studs) with Kroil. Those all came off without a hitch. The studs even stayed in the head. Underneath the manifold was a cast iron shield.

This turned out to be the real headache. This was held on by a bolt that was threaded into a welded nut. I figured treat it and take it out. Wrong. Regular 6 point metric socket, stripped and rounded the corners, bolt didn't move. Extractor socket, designed to work on these type problems, stripped and rounded the corners, even worse. Tried driving different other smaller sockets onto it, this just added to the frustration. This was the first nite.

The next nite, spent a little more time on it. Basically, this nite was just rinse and repeat. Finally called it a nite. Had other things that needed done on Saturday.

Sunday, today, was day three. Tod had the misfortune to come up and help. The first thing we tried was jamming a sawzall up in the hole and attempted to cut thru the bracket. I only had two blades so, we used those up and got part way thru the manifold. Then we stuffed a cutoff wheel up into the space and removed the bolt head, (well most of it, anyway).

We kept thinking this cast iron would break eventually. It was at this point, we got out the chisels. Working on your back, swinging at difficult angles, can also be frustrating. It took a good while but we finally broke the ear off. That got the manifold. We still had the bracket to deal with. It was bolted to the oil pan. We had to cut the ears off this, it gave up. That was the removal process.

Then we had to install the header. This was a used header that came off Ron's Achieva. He had built a new one for the SOHC engine he is now running in E/FS. This header came off a stick car. I may be wrong but I imagine a stick is a little skinnier than an automatic. Ron had cut the flange on the outer two tubes making this a 3 piece header. We tried numerous methods shifting the center tubes many ways. They wouldn't fit in the hole.

So, after much discussion. It was off to the band saw. The 3 piece header became a 4 piece header made up of individual tubes. A brand new gasket was placed onto the head. Then after fumbling with different combinations, the header was fitted to head. Then I headed back underneath the car to fit the collector. After once more loosening up the tubes. The collector was fitted into place. I have a nice merge collector that I had intended to use. That will be a project for another day. The last thing we had to do, was put the O2 sensor back in. Since we are only planning to bracket race the car at present. I put the old sensor back in, will save my new heated O2 for the merge collector.

Finally this can be crossed off the project list. After charging the battery. Hadn't been started in a while. The little 4 cylinder sounds much crisper. The throttle response is great. It appears a stumble or stutter the car previously had upon start up, seems to have disappeared. It had to be a sensor or something, it has never thrown a code.

The collector looks pretty ugly. The car it had been on previously was much lower than mine. If it worked on Ron's car, it will work on this one.

David Lee · 06-07-2014, 05:10 AM

Have you made a run yet with the new header?

Robert Swartz · 06-15-2014, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Lee

Have you made a run yet with the new header?

David,

Short answer, no. In short, work and outside work jobs, along with my wife and I dealing with my ailing 90 year old mother. Track time is difficult to get right now. I wanted to haul the car to LORP's Weds nite races. As of now even trying do that may be difficult.

Seems I spend more time working on these things more than anything else.

David Lee · 06-15-2014, 02:09 PM

I understand completely, i am helping to car for my mother too. gives me little time to deal with cars and other things in life. good luck.

05-25-2014, 09:57 PM	#11
Robert Swartz Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Nineveh, Indiana Posts: 512 Likes: 0 Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: 1995 Olds Achieva-the quest continues After many months, got this old pig back out to do some work on it. I had gotten a header from Ron Seibenek at the Nationals last year. Just hadn't taken the time to put it on. Well, since I was at a standstill with the Mustang II, decided to get this little project done. To start off, I naively thought this would be a pretty simple job. HAH! I had treated the manifold nuts (these are bolted to the heads with studs) with Kroil. Those all came off without a hitch. The studs even stayed in the head. Underneath the manifold was a cast iron shield. This turned out to be the real headache. This was held on by a bolt that was threaded into a welded nut. I figured treat it and take it out. Wrong. Regular 6 point metric socket, stripped and rounded the corners, bolt didn't move. Extractor socket, designed to work on these type problems, stripped and rounded the corners, even worse. Tried driving different other smaller sockets onto it, this just added to the frustration. This was the first nite. The next nite, spent a little more time on it. Basically, this nite was just rinse and repeat. Finally called it a nite. Had other things that needed done on Saturday. Sunday, today, was day three. Tod had the misfortune to come up and help. The first thing we tried was jamming a sawzall up in the hole and attempted to cut thru the bracket. I only had two blades so, we used those up and got part way thru the manifold. Then we stuffed a cutoff wheel up into the space and removed the bolt head, (well most of it, anyway). We kept thinking this cast iron would break eventually. It was at this point, we got out the chisels. Working on your back, swinging at difficult angles, can also be frustrating. It took a good while but we finally broke the ear off. That got the manifold. We still had the bracket to deal with. It was bolted to the oil pan. We had to cut the ears off this, it gave up. That was the removal process. Then we had to install the header. This was a used header that came off Ron's Achieva. He had built a new one for the SOHC engine he is now running in E/FS. This header came off a stick car. I may be wrong but I imagine a stick is a little skinnier than an automatic. Ron had cut the flange on the outer two tubes making this a 3 piece header. We tried numerous methods shifting the center tubes many ways. They wouldn't fit in the hole. So, after much discussion. It was off to the band saw. The 3 piece header became a 4 piece header made up of individual tubes. A brand new gasket was placed onto the head. Then after fumbling with different combinations, the header was fitted to head. Then I headed back underneath the car to fit the collector. After once more loosening up the tubes. The collector was fitted into place. I have a nice merge collector that I had intended to use. That will be a project for another day. The last thing we had to do, was put the O2 sensor back in. Since we are only planning to bracket race the car at present. I put the old sensor back in, will save my new heated O2 for the merge collector. Finally this can be crossed off the project list. After charging the battery. Hadn't been started in a while. The little 4 cylinder sounds much crisper. The throttle response is great. It appears a stumble or stutter the car previously had upon start up, seems to have disappeared. It had to be a sensor or something, it has never thrown a code. The collector looks pretty ugly. The car it had been on previously was much lower than mine. If it worked on Ron's car, it will work on this one. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Robert Swartz - Swartz & Lane 66 Chevy II Pro 95 Achieva EF/SA, 78 Mustang II U/SA (work in progress) #354 stock Last edited by Robert Swartz; 05-26-2014 at 10:31 AM.

06-07-2014, 05:10 AM	#12
David Lee VIP Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,157 Likes: 463 Liked 331 Times in 121 Posts	Re: 1995 Olds Achieva-the quest continues Have you made a run yet with the new header?

06-15-2014, 02:09 PM	#14
David Lee VIP Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,157 Likes: 463 Liked 331 Times in 121 Posts	Re: 1995 Olds Achieva-the quest continues I understand completely, i am helping to car for my mother too. gives me little time to deal with cars and other things in life. good luck.