Manifold sealing...
Discussion
Have characteristic chuffing sound, have nice shiny stainless gaskets, have selection of finely polished spanners, have time, have inclination, have choice vocab of best Anglo Saxon...am gonna change me a failed manifold gasket!
Tips please...especially whether the whole shebang has to come off, whether sealant should be used and if so, what? whether the local gynaecologist should be bribed to reach the lower fasteners...
V8??...just four TL1000s zip-tied together, innit!?
I did both sides on mine and you don’t have to take everything off (which is what a main dealer said). The offside is much easier than the nearside and I’m not kidding when I say that.
You will need 2 ring spanners, one open spanner and one socket on a smallish wrench, all 9/16ths. Rings: one ordinary and one with 2 x 90 degree bends in it. You won’t need any sealant but if you do decide to use it make sure it’s not quick drying otherwise, believe me, it will dry before you have tightened up all the bolts!
GENERAL:
See how you go along but if the spanners get too close to the plugs and you slip it does not take a lot to break one (I did). If necessary, remove plugs and suppressor caps, then fill the holes with a rag to stop any loose particles getting into the cylinders.
Undo the brackets surrounding the exhaust at the cats. You will have to hit them pretty hard with a hammer because the slightest bit of rust tends to bind them to the exhaust. Make a note of where the thread is on the nuts because when you tighten them back up it is very easy to go too far and they break (guess what? That’s right, I broke one – I repaired it with an extra long nut to join the broken thread together). I used a sealant here but not on the gaskets. Tighten these up before you tighten up the manifold bolts.
You might want to clean up the manifold faces with wire wool. If so, make sure the plugs are in or holes blocked then give them a quick vacuum to clean the little pieces of wire left behind.
When you put the new gaskets on use a little bit of tape to keep them in place. I don’t mean around all the edges - It’ll be pretty obvious where to stick it (between each exhaust port).
OFFSIDE:
Top bolts are nice and easy. The socket will be required to remove number 8. The bottom bolts need to be accessed from underneath the car, so it will need to be sat on axle stands unless you’re brave enough to venture under a jack.
Make sure all bolts are in before you tighten any up. For some reason the last bolt does not want to line up and you have to jiggle the manifold a bit. When you tighten up the bolts do them in turn, a little at a time.
NEARSIDE
Top bolts nice and easy, socket for number 7. Bottom bolts are a bitch. You can’t access them from the bottom. This is why TVR told me that the whole exhaust had to come off but if you’re patient and have the right spanners you can get to each bolt from the top. Don’t expect to have all of your fingers when you’re finished.
Put the bottom bolts back before the top. I only say this because of the earlier point about the last bolt not wanting to line up. I spent 2 hours trying to get one bolt in (number 3) it just would not bite. I had a huge blister on the ends of my fingers from turning the bolt again and again. In the end my wife did it in 2 minutes because she could get her skinny hands around the exhaust while I lined up the manifold (maybe I should have mentioned, under tools, a wife with skinny hands)
That’s about it really.
Good luck!
PS. I didn't use stainless steel gaskets, so maybe somebody else will say whether or not you should use a sealant on them.
Edited by macca on Tuesday 28th August 23:02
Just a suggestion - try tightening the manifolds up before taking it all off. My nearside gasket was blowing, I can't remember whether it was last summer or the one before but I tightened it up and haven't heard a 'chuff' from it since.
It just might save you a few grazed knuckles and backache.
Trefor/.
Thanks for that comprehensive advice guys...really appreciated! Did try nipping up fasteners tonight and got excited when I discovered the rear, nearside, top bolt was less than finger tight. Examination with a torch revealed bits of fragmented gasket poking out from the joint and tightening has not done the trick.
Seems a fair bet that this is the one that's blowing so I guess I'm in for the tough one first.
Having said that, I managed to get a spanner on all fasteners from the top as there seems a lot less gubbins in the way than driver's side. Cant conceive of doing that from top (looks a nightmare from below too?)
Think Holts ought to develop patented "Manifweld"...could just buy into a fluorescent sticky goo to squeeze down the plug-holes to cure all exhaust leaks right now!
V8??...just four TL1000s zip-tied together, innit!?
Good point Trefor. Here's another one, which sounds really daft but actually made a difference to mine...
After changing the gaskets I still got a slight chuffing noise which seemed to be coming from around the pully's and lasted about 2 minutes after starting from cold. I put this down to the gaskets even though I had changed them, thinking that the expansion from engine heat was closing any gaps.
The tip... to run the blade of a screwdriver between the grooves in the belt while the engine was turning. This would remove any wax or other deposits which, curiously, could be responsible for a chuffing noise. Sounded silly to me but, hey, it worked - noise gone.
Edited by macca on Wednesday 29th August 23:03
Its very easy for little stones to get stuck in the grooves in the drive belt. I take mine off and clean it out when I'm looking for something to fiddle with. I haven't tried the screwdriver in the groove with the engine running trick, but I'm sure it works just as well. Just hold the screwdriver tight.
Well...near-side done and all from top too (especially dextrous fingers!). Cured chuffing and I'm chuffed too...
Old fibre gasket (on rear ports) plainly burnt, just where loose fasteners found. Car only 15k old (97) so I guess it was probably a Friday afternoon job in Blackpool.
Still have skin on knuckles/fingers, so result alround. please confirm that is one of the worst jobs in TVRdom...need the reassurance!
V8??...just four TL1000s zip-tied together, innit!?
Backache is not the word...got out of bed this morning with my nose at about knee height and I've stayed like that most of the day! About four hours spent at it, incuding sticking the car on axle stands which proved unneccesary. Mind you, that was only doing the near-side...I'll reserve the pleasure of doing the driver's side until it fails (delayed gratification being a sign of maturity, and all). Can heartily recommend stainless gaskets over fibre, if you can find 'em. Much more up to the job.
V8??...just four TL1000s zip-tied together, innit!?
Got mine from David Batty at The Garage, Jacksons Corner, Compton, Guildford...tel 01483 811995. Seems they were made up for him but are based on the pattern of a Landrover export only part (might be for hotter climes?)...each gasket formed from three leaves of s/less, the middle one plain sheet sandwiched by outers with a raised seal "channel" embossed onto the face. Total cost £24.83 inc VAT and postage.
V8??...just four TL1000s zip-tied together, innit!?
Well, as it was nice today and I'd got nothing beter to do, have replaced driver's side ones too. Managed it without removing serpentine gubbins although I did have to take off the front wheel and crawl underneath to get at lower fasteners...I'm convinced spanners in Blackpool are shaped differently to those everywhere else....at least none of mine fit in those gaps easily.
V8??...just four TL1000s zip-tied together, innit!?
V8??...just four TL1000s zip-tied together, innit!?
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