Section : Exhaust

exhaust and inlet manifold

Posted By : Neil Nasralla, 22-Jun-2004, 11:42am

Hello fellow spitfire enthusiasts! I am new to the messageboard but have been reading messages and general chat for a couple of months. I require a little bit of advice on how to remove both the inlet and exhaust manifolds with a view to replacing the inlet manifold (part ready to install) and ultimately changing the exhaust manifold (and exhaust) for a full sports system. To be done as funds and my credit card will allow!

I attempted to remove my existing inlet manifold with the moth-eaten water pipes but struggled and ultimately failed to loosen as I could get no purchase on the nuts (no giggles please) that would allow me to remove said item. The nuts on studs along the top of the exhaust manifold/inlet manifold were easy to loosen the ones sitting behind the piping of same seemed impossible to get at.

Is there some easy technique or tool (or both) available for such a job or have I missed something? I have the exhaust/inlet gasket waiting to be installed if I need it existing one may be OK to re-use (or not).

Any help much appreciated. As I am new to these here parts if I have said/done anything really daft please do not take the Michael too much.

Followups :

exhaust and inlet manifold

Posted By : James Carruthers, 22-Jun-2004, 12:12pm

Neil,

Don't worry, it's a classic problem - I'm guessing you have the 1500?

The way I always did it was with a 1/4" socket - with a wobble bar... you can get it in there just about...

James
- exhaust and inlet manifold
  
  Posted By : Neil Nasralla, 22-Jun-2004, 12:29pm
  
  Thanks James, yes I do have a 1500 I should have said. Do you mean a 1/4" depth socket? The nuts are 9/16" from memory. Sounds like I need to get a set of decent imperial socket set with a flexible drive. I had such fun the other day taking the carbs off and taking everything to bits just to get frustrated by two nuts!!!!!!!!!
  
  James, thanks again for the advice. I will work up the apetite for bruised knuckles and have a go sometime after next weekend. I'm going to the Goodwood festival of speed to enjoy a whole load of cars making a whole load of noise.
  
  Cheers!!
  - exhaust and inlet manifold
    
    Posted By : James Carruthers, 22-Jun-2004, 12:44pm
    
    I mean a 1/4" socket set... the small ones...
    
    You probably have a 3/8" or 1/2" set...?
    
    The 1/4" sockets are a lot smaller... and that gives you more space between the nut and manifold.
    
    I have a set of each size of socket... 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2... that might seem OTT - but having the right tools saves masses of time... and if you don't have the right tools then the job ends up being twice as difficult...
    
    James
    - exhaust and inlet manifold
      
      Posted By : Neil Nasralla, 22-Jun-2004, 01:46pm
      
      Thanks James forgive my ignorance. The set I have is a 1/2" drive set and is consequently not up to the job. I am sure that the job will be a good un once I have acquired a 1/4" socket set and an hour or so to get my hands dirty.
      
      Cheers, Neil
      - exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Doug Paterson, 22-Jun-2004, 07:01pm
        
        When I've done the same job I've used those little ratched spanners which Halfords sell (although they ain't cheap).
        
        They are normal spanner at one end and at the other there is a ring spanner with a ratched attachment. This made undoing the lower bolts very easy. (not sure how well I explained that).
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Barry Huffer, 23-Jun-2004, 06:10pm
        
        Neil
        
        I noticed you said about getting imperial sizes.
        
        What you want is AF or SAE.
        
        Look in yellow pages for your local motor factors they will stock Sealey or Laser or others and may have catalogues. They may have special offers. Sealey have a summer catalogue with a number of offers of tool cabinets with the tools thrown in.
        
        Also check out Machine Mart not the cheapest but they do a catalogue which will at least give you an idea of all the different tools that are available. The danger is you could become a toolaholic.
        
        With regard to your manifold I used a 3/8 with a wobble bar. That gives a bit more grunt than the 1/4 and the wobble bar allows access off centre.
        
        Where are you perhaps one of us can show you the different tools and give some moral support.
        
        James for example is an international expert on universal feeler gauges!!!
        
        Barry Huffer
        Yellowish Mk iv Spitfire
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : James Carruthers, 23-Jun-2004, 08:11pm
        
        Nerr nerr nerr...
        
        Machine Mart do have some good sockets - the pro range with the flat sides - can get loads more torque on them - called "flat drive"...
        
        http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=0402124...
        
        I think they come with a lifetime warranty too...
        
        Regarding tools - THE set of tools I would never give up are my beloved ratchet spanners...
        
        http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=0402100...
        
        (but mine are in imperial - obviously)
        
        I couldn't do without them now... might seem something thats perhaps gimmicky - but I've used them so much that I don't know what I'd do without them now...
        
        Another tool that I've found really useful is an electric impact wrench... fantastic... only used it since Feb and I'm already finding it amazingly useful - makes some jobs half the time and twice as easy... of course you could always get yourself a compressor and an air ratchet...
        
        James
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Adrian Lee, 23-Jun-2004, 08:22pm
        
        These are probably the best spanners i have ever bought or used..fifth item down... http://www.cromwell.co.uk/browse?page=21 ...And good Britool deals are available here... http://www.primetools.co.uk/system/index.html ...Buy the best you can afford,saves rounded bolts and knuckles, 3/8 sockets systems are extremely useful, in fact I tend not to use my 1/2 at all, except impact sockets and big hammer jobs.
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : James Carruthers, 23-Jun-2004, 08:42pm
        
        Adrian...
        
        Your links don't work
        
        What are these spanners you speak of?
        
        James
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Adrian Lee, 23-Jun-2004, 11:24pm
        
        Damnation....cromwell tools .co.uk..............kennedy professional ratchet ring combination spanners..............superb bit of kit..the Britool bargains are @ primetools.co.uk
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : James Carruthers, 24-Jun-2004, 00:06am
        
        Ahhhhhh... you mean these beauties...
        
        http://www.cromwell.co.uk/KEN5822230K
        
        They're identical to what I've got! Except mine are Canadian Tire brand... if you ever go to Canada - go there specifically - really quality tools at crazy low prices (I'm sounding like an advert now)
        
        Anyway - they are possibly the best tool I have ever bought - I can't recommend them enough... I don't know how I'd get by without them...
        
        Don't confuse them with the dodgy plastic ones you find... they're just naff...
        
        James
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Adrian Lee, 24-Jun-2004, 08:30am
        
        Yes.....those are the chappies..............my computer skills are not what they should be...........i.e."i'm crap on the bloody things"............PS what are the +/- of usb hard drives?
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Mark Stradling, 24-Jun-2004, 10:33am
        
        For the off topic bit...
        
        + let you drag loads of data around with you for comparitivly little weight.
        - slower data transfer than internal disk or CD
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : James Carruthers, 24-Jun-2004, 10:52am
        
        Only worth getting if you have the new version of USB, USB 2 (surprisingly enough) - in which case it'll be as quick as an internal hard drive / CD
        
        (the drive has to be USB 2.0 too - as well as your computer)
        
        If you just want extra storage then you may as well get an internal drive installed... it's a lot easier than you'd imagine - in fact installing hardware in a computer is about a million times easier than anything you can do on a car...
        
        James
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Adrian Lee, 24-Jun-2004, 12:18pm
        
        Its for my laptop,Toshiba Tecra 9100,has that got USB2?It has a 30 gig drive in it but i was considering the options for more ,Any help/advice gratefully received'
        
        Ive got a docking station for it as the offspring needs a comp and is having my desktop,apologies for it not being Triumph related,though it has got some Triumph piccies on it.
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : James Carruthers, 24-Jun-2004, 12:52pm
        
        Adrian,
        
        I can't find anything that says it has USB2 - however you do have a Firewire port... I think... so you want a firewire hard drive instead...
        
        http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html...
        
        James
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Adrian Lee, 24-Jun-2004, 07:31pm
        
        Now you've lost me compltetely.what does a firewire look like?...................God i must get up to spec on computers!
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : James Carruthers, 24-Jun-2004, 07:59pm
        
        Adrian,
        
        See below...
        
        A FireWire port is one that was originally designed for connecting video cameras and hard drives to computers - ie connections that need lots of speed.
        
        Originally USB was designed just for low bandwidth devices such as mice, keyboards - that sort of thing - but now they've bought out USB2 to compete with FireWire - USB2 is quicker than FireWire. Of course they've bought out a FireWire that is even quicker than USB2 now...
        
        James
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Adrian Lee, 24-Jun-2004, 11:12pm
        
        There is nothing that says firewire or Y..................there is one next to the modem that says ethernet................When it comes to comps i am a F***wit...............please bear with me,all advice appreciated?hang on... .there is one that says IS400,looks like a digi camera plug...............is that the MF?
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : James Carruthers, 24-Jun-2004, 11:27pm
        
        Adrian,
        
        See below... its called i.Link - which is another name for FireWire... why they can't all just call it one name I do not know...
        
        You were right - its the one that says iS400...
        
        To add to the confusion - you're going to have to make sure you get the right cable - as that looks like the smaller 4 pin port to me... ususally you have the larger ones - like on the photo before...
        
        James
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Adrian Lee, 25-Jun-2004, 09:05am
        
        AHHHHHHHHHH....................many thanks James,i really apprciate your help ,and patience.
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Michael Davis, 25-Jun-2004, 10:48am
        
        and dont worry about not being "up to date" in the computer department. I can't always keep up and I make a living from the things
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Umesh Patel, 24-Jun-2004, 12:54pm
        
        Hi Adrian,
        
        Unfortunately the Tecra 9100 doesn't have USB2 (we use them at work - not impressed with it either ) but it does have Firewire which is as quick as USB2. Not sure how many devices there are around with Firewire though (also called IEE1394)
        
        Hope that helps
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Tim Everitt, 24-Jun-2004, 03:55pm
        
        Just to get back to the subject for a moment.. I find that I now use metrinch spanners/sockets on any nuts that I suspect of being a bit rounded - before I round them off a bit more. I cannot recommend them highly enough (and I do not even know who makes them let alone have shares in them).
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Adrian Lee, 24-Jun-2004, 07:35pm
        
        Not impressed....does'nt sound good Umesh,what's wrong with them?
        
        exhaust and inlet manifold
        
        Posted By : Neil Nasralla, 24-Jun-2004, 12:10pm
        
        Blimey, never thought that such an innocent query would set you lot off discussing everything from tools to USB!!!! Thanks again James and everybody else that chipped in. I might have to invest in a set of those rachet spanners they look like an excellent idea as they must save loads of time when doing/undoing nuts and bolts. I have never seen them before.
        
        I have in the meantime purchased a set of 3/8 / 1/4" drive socket set with additional universal joint to get passed the dogleg and set to work on dropping off the manifolds replacing my patiently waiting recon inlet manifold with shiny stainless steel water pipes.
        
        First of all I will double check that I can get purchase on the two nuts in question before dissassembling everything else! I knew the job would not be complex but just very tricky and I had fun getting may carbs to mate again. I'm sure the air was blue for at least ten minutes!!!!!!
        
        Cheers, Neil